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Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2015
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https://archive.org/details/b2152810x
THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS
THE
DUTIES OF SERVANTS
Jl flracmal (Sulk ter
THE ROUTINE OF DOMESTIC SERVICE
BY THE AUTHOR OF
“MANNERS AND RULES OF GOOD SOCIETY”
LONDON:
FREDERICK WARNE & CO.
AND NEW YORK.
( All rights ratrved.)
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
LEEDS
LX lOSbl
PREFACE.
This work is written for reference and in-
struction in every particular connected with
domestic service and the various duties of men-
servants and of maid-servants. It sets forth
the individual service required of each servant,
and thus appeals equally to both mistress and
servant. The one will gather from its pages
the actual services she is entitled to demand
from each servant, and the other will learn
of what his or her duties strictly consist.
The correct routine of “ Waiting at Table ”
will be found fully described in a companion
work bearing that title, the study of which
vi
Preface.
will greatly contribute to the proper perform-
ance of servants’ duties in this respect.
Time and experience have alike been
expended on these two useful works, and
they are confidently offered to the public as
being thoroughly reliable and trustworthy
guides.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
households: their various scales
I.
•
•
•
PAGE
1
CHAPTER
ENGAGING AND DISMISSING SERVANTS .
II.
•
•
C
•
7
CHAPTER
A TARIFF OP SERVANTS’ WAGES
III.
•
•
•
•
15
CHAPTER
servants’ meals .
IV.
•
f
•
•
21
CHAPTER
V.
OPENING THE DOOB, AND ANNOUNCING VISITORS ... 81
CHAPTER VI.
THE DUTIES OP A HOUSE-STEWARD; THE DUTIES OP A GROOM
OP THE CHAMBERS; THE DUTIES OP A VALET . .47
CHAPTER VII.
THE BUTLER’S DUTIES 51
CHAPTER VIII.
footmen’s duties . 59
CHAPTER IX.
the duties op a single-handed man-servant and page-
boy
68
viii Contents.
CHAPTER X.
THE DUTIES OP COACHMEN AND GROOMS .
•
• •
PAGE
C8
CHAPTER XI.
THE HOUSEKEEPER’S DUTIES
•
• •
71
CHAPTER XII.
THE DUTIES OP A COOK ....
•
• •
75
CHAPTER XIII.
THE DUTIES OP KITCHEN-MAIDS, SCULLERY-MAIDS, AND
ROOM-MAIDS
STILL-
• •
80
CHAPTER XIV.
housemaids’ duties
90
CHAPTER XV.
THE DUTIES OP A PARLOUR-MAID
•
• •
94
CHAPTER XVI.
THE DUTIES OP A LADY’S MAID . . .
•
• •
9G
CHAPTER XVII.
THE DUTIES OP A HEAD NURSE, AND THE
DUTIES
OF A
NURSERY-MAID • luo
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE DUTIES OP DAIRY-MAIDS AND LAUNDRY -MAIDS • . 113
CHAPTER XIX.
THE DUTIES OF GARDENERS AND GAMEKEErERS . . .115
CHAPTER XXVI.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
118
THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS.
CHAPTER I.
households: their various scales.
In the present work households conducted on every
scale have been considered from the largest to the
smallest, with the idea that by taking a wide range,
the work would be more complete in itself, and thus
prove of greater value to masters and mistresses in
general; and, however the number of servants in
establishments may differ, the style and method of
service is identical in all. The largest establish-
ments— those of noblemen and commoners of great
wealth — usually comprise upwards of thirty servants,
irrespective of gamekeepers and gardeners, such not
coming within the category of household servants.
The men-servants include a house steward, a groom
of the chambers, a butler, a valet, a man cook, three
footmen, a head coachman, second coachman, two or
three grooms, according to the number of horses. In
6ome houses, where the stables are on a large scale,
a stud-groom is kept, as well as a pad-groom, and
one or two under-grooms, a steward’s-room boy, and
a servants’ -hall hoy.
2
The Duties of Servants.
The women-servants consist, in these establishments,
of a housekeeper, a head lady’s-maid, an under
lady’s-maid, young ladies’-maids, according to the
number of young ladies in the family, a head nurse,
a cook (if a man cook is not kept), a head house-
maid, two or three under house-maids, a head laundry-
maid, two under laundry-maids, a head kitchen-
maid, a scullery-maid, a yegetable-maid, one or two
stillroom-maids, an under nurse, a nursery-maid, and
a schoolroom-maid. Dairy-maids are not included in
establishments of this description, the dairy being
comprised in the home farm. The staff of servants
here enumerated is considered requisite, both in town
and country. All other establishments graduate down-
wards from this scale of magnitude, according as the
incomes of the masters of these households also
graduate ; and the incomes of those who keep up
establishments of this calibre, average considerably
over £40,000 per annum.
Households next in importance are those where
the services of a house-steward and a groom of the
chambers are dispensed with, where a woman cook
takes the place of a man cook, and where the staff of
servants is as follows : — A housekeeper, a butler, a
valet, two or three footmen, according to the require-
ments of the family, a lady’s-maid, one or two young
ladies’-maids, a cook, one kitchen-maid, a scullery-maid,
a head house-maid, two under house-maids, a still-
Households: their various Scales. 3
room-maid, a head laundry-maid, an under laundiy-
maid, an upper and an under nurse, a nursery-maid, a
school-room maid, a coachman, and two or three grooms,
according to the extent of the stable department.
Next in order must be classed households where a
housekeeper is not kept) and where the cook is house-
keeper, or where the lady’s-maid fills that office.
Indeed, it has become very general in many large
households to dispense with the office of housekeeper,
and to unite it in the person of the cook or lady’s-
maid. Some ladies prefer to consider themselves
their own housekeepers, to keep the household ac-
counts, and to be referred to in all matters of expen-
diture, while the deputy housekeeper acts more or
less under their orders.
In households of this class a valet is not kept, and
the butler valets the master of the house. The men-
servants consist of a butler, two footmen, coachman,
and one or two grooms as required. The number of
ladies’-maids is regulated according to the number of
ladies in the family; one lady’s-maid to wait upon
the mistress of the house, and one, two, or three to
wait upon the young ladies — the average is, as a rule,
one maid for two young ladies. The kitchen depart-
ment includes cook, kitchen-maid, scullery-maid, and
stillroom-maid ; the remainder of the servants con-
sist of two house-maids, two laundry-maids, nurse,
nursery-maid, and schoolroom-maid.
4
The Duties of Servants.
A very usual sized household is that in which the
following servants are kept : — a butler and one foot-
man, or two footmen in place of a butler and one
footman. Respecting the latter plan, heads of houses
with large grown-up families, and where the work is
consequently very heavy, find that it is an advantage
to keep two servants in livery instead of one in and
one out of livery, as the work is thus equally divided
between the two men-servants.
In this case the head footman, as he is termed,
acts the part of butler so far that he takes charge of
the wine, and carves at the side-table at luncheon
and at dinner. (See Chapter entitled “Footmen’s
Duties.”) In these establishments the women-
servants include a cook, a kitchen-maid, who also
acts as scullery-maid ; two house-maids — the under
house-maid waiting upon the schoolroom, or nursery,
thus rendering a schoolroom-maid or nursery-maid
unnecessary — one lady’s-maid and a young-ladies’ -
maid, a laundry-maid, a coachman, and groom.
Households on a smaller scale include a single-
handed man-servant out of livery, a cook, a house-
maid, a lady’s-maid, or lady’s-maid and nurse in one,
a coachman and boy helper. Occasionally a page is
kept as well as a man-servant, but oftener not. In
many small households a parlour-maid is kept instead
of a man-servant, for motives of economy, or from
choice, those actuated by the former being by far the
Households : their various Scales. 5
larger class of the two. When a parlour-maid is
kept from choice, and not because a man-servant is
too expensive a servant, it is by widow ladies living
by themselves, or with daughters or female relatives,
and who entertain but little; or maiden ladies living
by themselves without male relatives, and to whom
men-servants are a serious responsibility ; thus, in
watering-places and suburban towns, a parlour-maid is
often kept by those whose incomes fully enable them
to keep one or even two men-servants. Widows and
maiden ladies find, as a rule, that men-servants do
not maintain that character for steadiness of conduct
and sobriety when there is no master to be appealed
to. In these households there are two in the kitchen,
a cook and kitchen-maid ; a lady’s-maid, house-
maid, and a parlour-maid; and in these quiet house-
holds a coachman is allowed board wages, and does
not live in the house. Many who cannot afford to
keep two men-servants keep a parlour-maid instead
of an indoor man-servant, as they find that to unite
the offices of indoor man-servant and coachman in one
does not work well, and that he is neither a spruce-
looking coachman nor a well-trained, well-mannered,
well-dressed man-servant, and that “ the trail of the
serpent ” is over him still, meaning the odour of the
stables, when performing the functions of footman
and butler. But whether a coachman is kept or not,
very many households consist of one servant for each
6
The Duties of Servants.
office — thus, a cook, a house-maid, a parlour-maid, a
nurse and nursery-maid, if there is a family of chil-
dren, and where the parlour-maid acts as lady’s-maid
to her mistress, and the nursery-maid waits upon the
schoolroom. Again, in households of this character, the
house-maid assists in the parlour- work, with the help
of a page. In still smaller households, consisting of
three women-servants, viz., a cook, a house-maid, and
a lady’s-maid, the house-maid acts as parlour-maid,
with a certain amount of assistance from the lady’s-
maid.
Where there are children in these modest house-
holds, a nurse is kept instead of a lady’s-maid, and
she renders what little assistance her mistress may
require from a maid in the way of dressing, &c.
The individual duties of servants, according to the
description of household to which they respectively
belong, are given in detail in succeeding chapters.
CHAPTER II.
ENGAGING AND DISMISSING SERVANTS.
The important duty of engaging and dismissing
servants devolves upon various individuals according
to the scale on which each household is regulated.
In large establishments the house-steward engages
and dismisses both the men and women servants.
Where there is no house-steward at the head of a
household, the housekeeper engages and dismisses the
female servants; and the butler the indoor men-
servants, but in all cases a master and mistress of a
house engage their own personal attendants, viz., the
valet, ladies’ -maids, and nurse. Where a house-
steward is not kept, the master of the house engages
the coachman.
Where a housekeeper is not kept, the mistress of a
house engages the women-servants, the master of the
house engages the butler and footmen, unless the
butler is an old and trustworthy servant, in which
case engaging and dismissing the footmen is left in his
hands.
8
The Duties of Servants.
In all households of smaller dimensions, the
master of the house engages and dismisses the men-
servants, and the mistress of the house the women-
servants. Where one man-servant is kept, the
mistress of the house not unfrequently engages
him.
In the stable department, the master of the house
engages and dismisses the coachman and the grooms.
It is only when a coachman is an old and trusted
servant that he is deputed to engage the grooms and
stable helpers.
In engaging servants a personal character is very
much insisted upon, and it offers many advantages, as
far more can be said in an interview than can be
expressed by letter ; questions can be asked and
answered, and particulars given, which do away with
the necessity of taking a servant for a month on
trial.
When it is not possible to obtain a personal cha-
racter on the ground of distance, state of health, or
other equally good reasons, a written character should
always be supplemented by some indirect personal
knowledge, to avoid the possibility of imposture being
attempted ; besides which, although leading questions
may be satisfactorily answered by letter, yet it is
often that the minor points in a servant’s character
are of paramount importance in the eyes of a mistress,
and as ladies view things from different standpoints,
Engaging and Dismissing Servants. 9
what would signify but very little to one mistress,
would be a matter of some moment to another, and
ladies are always more inclined to express their
opinion with greater freedom in an interview than
by letter.
A servant cannot legally call upon her late mistress
a second time for a character, although under excep-
tional circumstances a mistress will perhaps consent
to give one; thus, those about to engage servants
should make every inquiry of the servants themselves
as to their capabilities and the probability of their
suiting, before calling upon, or applying to, a late
mistress for a character.
In engaging servants it is advisable to put the fol-
lowing leading questions : —
“ "With whom have you been living ? ” or “ Iu
what family have you been living?” “How long
were you with them?” or “Have you been there
long ? ” “ What was the reason of your leaving ? ”
“What is your age?” “Is your health good?”
“ Are you an early riser ? ” “ What wages have you
been receiving ? ” After these questions, those re-
lating to the duties appertaining to the situation
applied for are entered upon. If the applicant is a
cook, questions such as the following would be useful.
“ Are you a professed cook ? ” « Have you been in
the habit of sending up large dinners ? ” “ How
many were there in family in your last place ? ” and
B
10
The Duties of Servants.
“How many servants had you to cook for?” “I
suppose you understand making smart sweets and
entrees ? ” and so on, which questions will elicit a full
explanation of what the cook can or cannot do. The
question of per-centage from the tradespeople with
whom the family deals is one that a mistress when
engaging a cook should be explicit upon and clearly
make it understood that it is not allowed under pain
of dismissal, if such is the rule of the house ; and
heads of houses who wish to keep the household
expenses within reasonable limits are very firm upon
this point.
Many cooks are so independent that they decline
situations where per-centage is not allowed, and many
also object to taking a situation where they are not
permitted to order everything that is required for con-
sumption in the house, or where the mistress ventures
upon giving orders to the tradespeople herself. There-
fore, if a mistress does not intend placing such power
in the hands of her cook, she should make it dis-
tinctly understood at the time of engaging her, as
those mistresses who prefer saving themselves trouble
and to whom the practice of economy is not a con-
sideration, are in the habit of allowing the cook to
order everything required in the kitchen, even to
choosing and changing the tradespeople of whom the
things are ordered. In the every-day consumption of
a household the cook must necessarily give orders.
Engaging and Dismissing Servants. 1 1
It rests with mistresses to make their own rules as
to the amount of liberty they allow their servants,
and this should be done when engaging them, to
avoid any future misunderstanding. Many mas-
ters and mistresses, providing the men-servants are
in by half-past ten or eleven, do not object to their
going out when dinner is over. Any rule or rules
which a mistress of a house may think proper to
make, such as deducting the cost of breakages from
wages, or restrictions as to personal attire, should be
mentioned at the time of engaging a servant, as it is
unfair to impose rules upon servants who have taken
a situation in ignorance of them. The rule as to
whether servants may receive visits from male ac-
quaintances is a very important one, and the prohibi-
tion of such should be clearly expressed. In well-
ordered households the visits of male acquaintances,
commonly called “followers,” are strictly forbidden;
and all mistresses desirous of maintaining anything
like order in their households, rigidly enforce the ob-
servance of this regulation. In large establishments
male visitors to the women servants are not in any
way permitted ; but in small households the visits of
male acquaintances are looked upon as a privilege,
the resisting which is a continual source of annoyance
to a mistress. The order, method, and regularity
that reigns in large establishments could with advan-
tage and profit be maintained in smaller households.
12
The Duties of Servants.
where an undue amount of laxness too often pre-
vails.
In large establishments the inducement offered to
the under servants in the way of “bettering themselves,”
as it is termed, is the promotion which takes place in
their ranks, the scullery-maid is advanced to be
kitchen-maid, the third house-maid to be second house-
maid, the second footman to be first footman, and so
on ; in small households where there is no room for
such promotion, a usual and satisfactory plan is to
engage servants on the promise of a rise in their wages
every succeeding year ; this meets the natural and con-
stant desire of servants to change their service for the
purpose of “ bettering themselves,” and lengthened
and faithful service is well worth an extra recompense
in the shape of an increase of wages. On the other
hand, mistresses who can only afford to give a certain
sum and not to go beyond it, object to this arrange-
ment on the ground that, at the end of two, three, or
five years, the wages they were giving their servants
would be higher than their incomes justified, and
under such circumstances they are often put to the
constant inconvenience and annoyance of losing a good
servant and perhaps gaining an inexperienced one.
When a servant gives notice to leave, a mistress should
never exhibit any displeasure or vexation she may feel
on the subject, but calmly inquire the reason of the
determination ; if it is merely a question of wages and
Engaging and Dismissing Servants. 13
she has the power and inclination to comply with the
required advance, she at once agrees to it, by giving
a servant an opportunity of stating her reasons for
leaving ; the chance is afforded of anything radically
wrong in the establishment being made known to the
mistress of it; but when a servant is “making a
change ” from purely personal reasons or from griev-
ances that a mistress cannot attempt to redress, it is
most injudicious to persuade a servant to “ think better
of it ” and to withdraw the notice, hut if after a few
days of consideration a servant thinks better of it on
his or her own account, a mistress is often willing to
receive the withdrawal of the notice, and is wise in so
doing.
A master or mistress can either give a servant a
month’s notice or a month’s wages in lieu of notice,
or can dismiss them before the month’s notice has
expired by paying the moiety of the unexpired month’s
notice. A servant can be dismissed without notice for
impropriety of conduct, insobriety, dishonesty, or dis-
obedience, but cannot be dismissed for a threat of
disobedience made to a fellow-servant and not put into
execution. When a master or mistress is applied to
for the character of a servant dismissed by them, they
are bound to give a perfectly truthful character, with-
out extenuation or exaggeration, stating nothing that
cannot be thoroughly substantiated in a court of law ;
therefore, if they are aware of any circumstance or
14 The Duties of Servants.
facts to the detriment of a servant which it would be
difficult or disagreeable to prove, they can decline
to give a character without stating their reason for
so doing, but were they to suppress this knowledge
it would he actionable on the ground of its being
a false character. A master and mistress are not
compelled by law to give a servant a character even
though they may have received one with a servant,
unless at the time of engaging a servant an agreement
is made to do so. A servant cannot claim a month’s
board wages when receiving a month’s wages in lieu
of notice.
CHAPTEE III.
A TARIFF OF SERVANTS’ WAGES.
The tariff of wages paid to domestic servants fluc-
tuates very considerably, and is influenced in a great
measure by tbe position of a master and mistress, and
by tbe experience of tbe servant. Higher wages are
given in town than in the country, and experienced
servants ask higher wages than do inexperienced ones,
and by the same rule, wealthy families can afford to
give high wages to secure well-trained servants, while
those who are not so fortunate in the possession of
this world’s goods, give wages according to their
means and receive the proportionate equivalent.
The scale of wages may be said to commence with
the house-steward.
A house-steward receives £50 to £80 per annum,
according to the responsibilities of his office.
A groom of the chambers receives from £40 to £50
per annum.
A butler receives from £50 to £80 per annum.
A valet receives from £30 to £50 per annum.
The wages of a man cook varies from £100 and
i6
The Duties of Servants.
upwards; some men cooks receive as much as £150,
besides perquisites.
Neither of these servants wear livery, and they find
themselves in clothes.
An under-butler or head-footman receives from £28
to £32 per annum, and from two to three suits of
livery per year.
The under-footmen receive from £14 to £20, and
upwards.
A coachman receives from £25 to £60, and two
suits of livery.
A second coachman receives from £20 to £35, and
two suits of livery.
A head-groom receives from £18 to £25 per
annum, and two suits of livery.
An under-groom £14 to £20 per annum, and two
suits of livery are also allowed a-year.
A page receives from £7 to £12 per annum, and
two suits of livery.
A steward’s-room boy and servant’s-hall boy
receive from £6 to £8 per annum.
A house-keeper receives from £30 to £50 per
annum.
A professed cook receives from £50 to £70 per
anuum.
A plain cook receives from £16 to £30 per annum.
A head kitchen-maid receives from £20 to £28
per annum. A parlour-maid from £16 to £24.
A Tariff of Servants' Wages.
17
A second kitchen-maid receives from ,£14 to £22
per annum.
In the case of only one kitchen-maid being kept,
she receives from £18 to £24 per annum.
A scullery-maid receives from £12 to £18 per
annum.
A still-room maid receives from £10 to £14 per
annum.
An upper house-maid receives from £20 to £30
per annum.
A second house-maid receives from £14 to £20 per
annum.
A third house-maid receives from £12 to £18 per
annum.
A house-maid, where only one is kept, also receives
from £12 to £18 per annum.
A lady’s-maid receives from £20 to £35 per annum;
a young-lady’s-maid receives from £14 to £25 per
annum.
Ahead nurse receives from £20 to £30 per annum.
An under-nurse receives from £14 to £18 per
annum.
A nursery-maid receives from £10 to £14 per
annum.
A school-room maid receives from £10 to £14 per
annum.
A head laundry-maid receives from £1S to £25
per annum. A house parlour-maid from £15 to £20.
i8
The Duties of Servants.
A second laundry-maid receives from £16 to £20
per annum.
A third laundry-maid receives from £12 to £16 per
annum.
Where only one laundry -maid is kept she receives
from £18 to £25 per annum.
A dairy-maid receives from £14 to £20 per annum.
In some households, tea, sugar, heer, and washing
are found; in others extra wages are allowed for
these.
"When tea and sugar are allowanced, the usual
quantity allowed to each servant is, 1 lb. of tea per
month, and 2 lbs. of loaf sugar, or money to this
equivalent.
When beer money is given, it varies from Is. 6r/. to
2s. 6 cl. per week ; in some households the under
female servants are allowed hut Is. per week. For
the quantity of beer allowed to each servant per day
See Chapter on “ Servants’ Meals.”
When money for washing is allowed it varies from
Is. to 2s. 6d. per week.
When families are out of town the servants left in
the house are put on hoard wages, and some families
allow their servants board wages during the whole
year, as mentioned in Chapter on “ Servants’ Meals.”
The hoard wages allowed to men servants are : —
For butlers, from 14s. to 16s. per week. Footmen,
13s. to 14s. per week ; and to men-servants, out of
A Tariff of Servants Wages.
19
livery and in livery, in the same ratio. And to
women servants, from 12s. to 14s. per week to the
upper maid servants, and from 11s. to 13s. to the
under servants.
Respecting the tariff of wages paid to out-door
servants, when paid weekly — Coachmen receive from
16s. to 25s. per week, lower wages being given in
the country than in town. In addition to this
they are allowed rooms over the stables, or a cottage,
rent free, and a fire in the harness-room when
required.
Grooms receive from 10s. to 18s. per week.
The liveries given to men servants depend upon
how long a family remains in town, or the amount of
company kept. Some families allow each man servant
two livery suits and a working suit per year, while
others allow three suits of livery and two working
suits in two years. In each case the livery is the
property of the master.
The other out-door servants comprise gardeners,
game-keepers, and dairy-maids.
A head-gardener receives from £75 to £80 per
annum and a house rent free.
The under-gardeners from £45 to £50 per annum
Gardeners are either paid by the week or by the
quarter.
Head game-keepers receive from 35s. to 40s. per
week.
20
The Duties of Servants .
Under game-keepers from 15s. to 25 s. per week.
A head chauffeur receives from £3 to £4 per week
in a large establishment where three or four cars
and an assistant chauffeur are kept.
A young chauffeur mechanic receives £2 per
week, which includes board wages ; or £1 10s. per
week and board wages.
The board wages usually given to a chauffeur is
about 12s. per week.
A chauffeur who was formerly coachman or foot-
man receives 30s. per week.
A chauffeur is supplied with livery, consisting
of coat, waistcoat, breeches and gaiters, an overcoat,
cap, dust-coat, and overalls for cleaning car.
The footman or groom sitting alongside the
chauffeur receives a similar livery.
When servants are engaged, they are entitled to
have the cost of their journey paid by their master
or mistress. If they are dismissed for no actual
misconduct, they are also entitled to have their
return- journey paid ; but if a servant gives notice,
he or she is not entitled to receive return-journey
money.
Game-keepers are usually allowed a cottage rent
free, in addition to their wages.
CHAPTER IV.
servants’ meals.
Punctuality with, regard to meals in the servants*
hall is as imperative as with regard to those in the
dining-room. In large establishments this regularity
is in force, as a matter of course, but in smaller
households a laxness in this particular not unfre-
quently exists ; and this, although attributed to the
cook, might, in many cases, be laid to the charge of
the mistress of the house, who fails to insist that
strict punctuality should be maintained. Without
early rising, there can be little or no punctuality in a
household. In large establishments early rising is
compulsory, but in smaller households, where there is
more work to be done in proportion to the number of
servants kept, this early rising is too often optional,
and is not sufficiently considered by mistresses in
general.
Eight o’clock in summer, and half-past eight in
winter, is the usual breakfast hour both in the house-
keeper’s room and in the servants’ hall. In large
establishments the upper servants breakfast in the
steward’s room instead of in the housekeeper’s room.
When meals take place in the steward’s room the
22
The Duties of Servants.
steward’s boy, as he is called, lays the table; when in
the housekeeper’s room the still-room maid does so ;
when in the servants’ hall the servants’-hall hoy, or
scullery-maid.
The upper servants include the house-steward,
the groom of the chambers, the butler, the house-
keeper, the cook, the valet, the lady’s-maid, and
the nurse. It is, however, chiefly in noblemen’s
houses and the houses of the very wealthy that a
house-steward is kept, and that the upper servants
have their breakfast, tea, and supper in the steward’s
room ; in ordinary establishments these meals take
place in the housekeeper’s room. In small house-
holds consisting of three women-servants only, there
is, generally speaking, no housekeeper’s room or
servants’ hall, in which case the servants have their
meals in the kitchen.
Whether in the steward’s-room or housekeeper’s-
room, it is the housekeeper’s duty to pour out the tea.
The cups and saucers are placed on a large tea-tray,
with slop-basin, sugar-basin, milk-jug, teapot and
coffee-pot. A knife and fork and plate are placed for
each person; the cruet stand is set on the centre
of the table, and a salt-cellar at each comer. Cold
meat is given for breakfast, such as ham, meat pie,
cold roast or boiled pork. 'When eggs are plentiful,
they are given, and very frequently fried bacon.
Whatever meat is given is placed opposite the butler
Servant s’ Meals.
23
and carved by him. In some houses rolls are given
for breakfast, but when not, a loaf of bread, dry toast,
and butter in a butter-dish, are placed on the table.
In the servants’ hall breakfast is arranged in a
similar manner. The head housemaid or kitchen-
maid pours out the tea or coffee, and the under butler
or footman carves the cold meat — bacon and eggs being
seldom given in the servants’ hall ; sometimes the
grooms prefer beer instead of tea or coffee for breakfast.
Breakfast in the kitchen is conducted on the same
principle : the cook pours out the tea and carves the
cold meat.
The breakfast-things are cleared away by those
whose duty it is to lay breakfast ; that is to say, by
the steward’s-room boy, the still-room maid, the ser-
vants’-hall boy, and in the kitchen by the cook. It
is also the duty of these under servants to prepare
lunch at eleven o’clock in the different rooms. In
large houses cold meat and beer are given for lunch ;
in smaller households, bread and cheese and beer.
One o’clock is the usual hour for the servants’
dinner. The upper and under servants dine at the
same table in the servants’ hall — in some ducal es-
tablishments there is a separate table or dinner for
the upper servants in the steward’s room ; but these
are exceptional houses, as a separate table entails
greater expense and trouble. The general rule
is for the upper and under servants to sit down to
24
The Duties of Servants.
table together in the servants’ ball, the upper ser-
vants being the first to enter, and for the upper
servants to have the sweets and bread and cheese in
the housekeeper’s room. The dinner-table is laid by
the servants’-hall boy; it is covered with a white table-
cloth, a knife and fork and tumbler are placed for
each person, and a table-spoon and salt-cellar at each
corner ; a cruet stand in the middle of the table. The
hot meat and vegetables are placed upon the table ;
and, where there are two joints provided, they are
carved by the butler and housekeeper. The bread
and jugs of beer are not placed on the table, but are
helped by the footman as required.
The still-room maid lays the table in the house-
keeper’s room, where the upper servants adjourn to
finish their dinner. The table is covered with a white
table-cloth ; a knife and fork, dessert-spoon, and
tumbler are placed for each person. The pudding or
tart, or both, are brought into the housekeeper’s room
by the still-room maid when the servants are seated
at table, and are placed opposite the housekeeper.
The still-room maid hands the plates round to those
seated at table, and then returns to finish her own
dinner: the boll is rung for her to bring in the
cheese as soon as the sweet has been eaten.
Some ladies leave the arrangement of the servants’
dinner entirely to the discretion of the cook, and do
not even inquire what the servants are to have for
Servants Meals.
25
dinner ; but in smaller households, or even in large
households, where ladies are their own housekeepers,
and where economy is practised, and where prodigality
is discountenanced, ladies order the servants’ dinner
at the same time that they order their own dinner.
Again, in large households both the upper and under
servants are allowed puddings every day for dinner as
a matter of course, and in small households it is also
the rule to allow puddings for dinner, while in others,
puddings are only allowed once or twice a week,
under the mistaken idea that they add considerably
to the expenses of housekeeping. Other mistresses
of households adopt a medium course, and give
Yorkshire pudding, suet pudding, batter pudding,
with hot joints, and sweet puddings with cold joints.
This is the most economical plan, but servants
as a rule dislike a cold dinner, and when it can be
arranged it is preferable to provide a hot dinner for
them.
In large households a hot dinner for the servants is
a matter of course, but in small households, where
there is a great deal to do in the way of cooking for
the family, the cook not unfrequently gives the ser-
vants a cold dinner to save trouble ; but considerate
mistresses arrange with the cook what they wish the
servants to have for dinner, and the dinner is sub-
mitted on a slate for their approval, according to the
contents of the larder, in the same manner that the
c
26
The Duties of Servants.
family dinner is submitted to them, and a mistress
makes any alterations or suggestions she may think
proper. For variety and economy in the matter of
servants’ dinners, see Chapter entitled “Servants’
Meals.”
With regard to beer, the usual allowance per day
is — for men-servants — for lunch a pint, for dinner a
pint, and for supper a pint ; and for the women-
servants — for lunch half-a-pint, for dinner a pint,
and for supper half-a-pint. It is a very general rule
in households to allow the servants beer-money in-
stead of beer, from motives of economy; it is considered
that it causes less waste, and that it is less indiscrimi-
nately given away, and that there is less incentive to
idlers to hang about the house in expectation of a
pint of beer. In town this is a sensible plan to fol-
low, but in the country, where beer is home-brewed
by the butler, it is seldom followed, and is inhospitable
and over close, as all who come to the house neces-
sarily come from some distance; besides, the cost
of the home-brewed small-beer thus consumed is
but trifling.
But this plan of allowing servants beer-money in the
place of beer has disadvantages, if it has advantages. If
men-servants are not especially well-principled, sober,
and steady, they not unfrequently spend their beer-
money in spirits at the nearest public-house, or they
idle away their time by constantly going out to get
Servants Meals.
27
“ a pint of beer.” Women-servants, on the contrary,
when allowed beer-money, invariably dispense with
beer altogether. Beer or beer- money is now seldom
allowed to young women-servants. Total abstainers
maintain that beer is unnecessary, and that to drink
it is more a habit than a need.
Some few mistresses, from motives of strict economy,
put their servants on board wages, even when the
family is at home.
For men-servants 12s. to 16s. is the usual allowance,
and for women-servants 10s. to 14s. per week.
When this arrangement is made, the meals take place
at the same hours as when ordered by the mistress of
the house. Such an arrangement does not as a rule
work well, and therefore it is seldom followed.
The servants in these cases club together, and
the cook caters for them ; but if there is a saving
in this plan, and there certainly is when the
family live principally upon game, and poultry,
and entrees, rather than upon joints of beef and
mutton, it is not one that is very popular with
either mistresses or servants: it renders servants
in a way independent of their masters and mis-
tresses ; they lose the feeling of being members
of one household and dependent upon the kind-
ness and consideration of its master and mistress,
whereas this bond should be strengthened rather
28
The Duties of Servants.
than weakened if faithful service is wished for and
expected.
The usual hour for tea in large and small establish-
ments, is from four to five ; the upper servants have
tea in either the steward’s room or the housekeeper’s
room, and the tea-table is laid respectively by either
the steward’s-room boy or the still-room maid ; in the
servants’ hall the tea-table is laid by the servants’-
hall hoy, and in the kitchen it is laid by the cook
The tea-tray containing the cups and saucers, teapot,
&c., is placed at the top of the table, on the table-
cover, a white table-cloth not being used for tea in
either of these apartments ; a small knife and plate
are placed for each person, and bread, butter, dry
toast, and plum-cake are placed on the table. The
housekeeper pours out the tea in the steward’s room
and in the housekeeper’s room, the upper housemaid
or head kitchenmaid makes tea for the under ser-
vants in the servants’ hall, in the kitchen the cook
pours out the tea.
In many houses each servant has an allowance of
tea and sugar, which is given out once a week or
once a month, the average being one pound of tea
per month and two pounds of loaf sugar per month ;
in other houses an allowance of tea and sugar is not
made, but the quantity used is regulated by the
housekeeper or cook, who keeps it within these
limits.
Servants Meals.
29
The usual hour for supper is half-past eight or
nine. In large establishments hot suppers are allowed
in the steward’s room and housekeeper’s room; and
the entries and sweets that have been served in the
dining-room are generally sent into the housekeeper’s
room for supper, while other mistresses only allow the
joints to be eaten, and require the entries and sweets
to be kept to form part of their own luncheon on the
following day. The supper-table is laid by the
steward’s-room hoy or still-room maid; two knives
and forks, a dessert spoon, a tumbler and wine-glass,
are placed for each person.
In a few large establishments wine is allowed in
the housekeeper’s room and steward’s room, averaging
three or four bottles per week. The housekeeper,
groom of the chambers, butler, or house-steward helps
or carves at supper. The still-room maid waits at
table in the housekeeper’s room, and the steward’s-
room boy waits in the steward’s room ; but it is only
in the houses of the very wealthy where a house-
steward is kept, and where there is consequently a
steward’s room and steward’s-room boy. It is far
more usual for the upper servants to have their meals
in the housekeeper’s room. The servant’s-hall supper
consists of cold meat, hot vegetables, and bread and
cheese ; the table is laid by the servant’s-hall boy,
or, where a boy is not kept, by the scullery-maid ;
two knives, a fork, and a tumbler are placed for each
30 The Duties of Servants.
person ; the under butler or bead footman and bead
housemaid carve, or help at table. In the kitchen
the supper-table is laid by the cook, who also carves.
In these small establishments cold meat and bread
and cheese are allowed for supper ; and in some very
economical families meat for supper is not given, and
only bread and cheese provided ; and it is an under-
stood thing that what is left from the dining-room
dinner is not to be eaten in the kitchen, but to be
kept for breakfast and luncheon.
A bell is rung for breakfast, dinner, and supper,
but it is not rung for tea. Half an hour is allowed
for breakfast, the same for tea and supper ; an hour
for dinner. Considerate masters and mistresses en-
deavour, as far as possible, not to ring for their
servants during the hours allotted for meals.
In those households which consist of from two
to four servants, they have their meals altogether
in what is now termed the servants’ sitting-room,
the cook taking the head of the table.
CHAPTER V.
OPENING THE DOOR, AND ANNOUNCING VISITORS.
Opening the door to visitors and announcing visitors
are light yet important duties in the every-day routine
of a servant’s work.
In a large establishment where a staff of men-
servants are kept these duties are performed neces-
sarily in the most efficient and orthodox manner, but
in smaller establishments, where the footman has
perhaps been recently promoted to the post of butler,
and a new footman has also been engaged whose cha-
racter with regard to honesty and sobriety is satis-
factory, but whose capabilities have yet to be dis-
covered, or when both butler and footman are new to
their respective positions, and are more or less untried
servants, or when a single-handed man-servant is new
to his work, or a parlour-maid is new to hers, then it
is that these duties, simple though they are, put the
servant’s training to the test, and the mistress to the
blush.
There is no surer indication of the manner in which
a household is conducted than is conveyed in this
32
The Duties of Servants.
“ answering the door.” To keep a visitor standing on
the doorstep of a house for five minutes or more
argues that the attendance in that house is very lax,
and that the mistress of it is to blame, and prepares
one for the slovenly, untidy, half-sleepy appearance
the servant will probably present when at last he
opens the door, or for the hare arms, black face, and
dirty apron of the female servant when she ventures
to appear. One would imagine that the custom
amongst overworked maids of all work of going out
into the front area to obtain a view of the applicant
for admission, on the chance of being able to hold
communication with them from below, and to discover
their business without the trouble of answering the
door, was confined to that much-enduring class, were
it not that footmen in gentlemen’s families residing in
the heart of fashionable London are given to this im-
pertinent mode of proceeding, perhaps excusable in a
maid of all work, but inexcusable on the part of a
footman. A woman left in charge of a house who
puts her head out of the window or looks up the area
is justified in thus reconnoitring before answering the
door ; she is on the defensive, and an ugly customer
or suspicious looking person she would he wise to
parley with from her vantage point above or below,
namely, the window or the area. Such tactics on the
part of a lone, lorn woman are to be recommended and
commended. I
Opening the Door.
33
When a footman has not been informed whether his
mistress is at home to visitors or not, he either leaves
them at the door, or ushers them into the drawing-
room, on the chance of her being at home to them,
and if not inclined or able to receive visitors, some
little awkwardness is occasioned both in giving and
receiving such message ; the servant looks foolish, and
the visitor looks and feels annoyed that the answer of
“Not at home ” was not at once given.
“Not at home” is the received formula in society
to express a lady’s inability or disinclination to receive
visitors; some persons not understanding it in this
light, take it to mean a direct untruth, and will not
allow their servants to make use of it, but it is in
reality the recognized mode of insuring privacy with-
out entering into explanations as to the why and
the wherefore. For instance, if a mistress of a house
were hut slightly indisposed or overtired, and she were
to he denied to visitors on the plea ol not being well
enough to see them, she would doubtless have callers
the next day to inquire after her health, if the report
does not gain currency amongst her friends that she is
seriously ill.
Too much engaged to see visitors is also not a polite
answer to give to a caller, hut when a lady is occupied
with domestic matters, going into her household ac-
counts, examining the wardrobes of her children, or
giving directions about her own, a servant has no
34
The Duties of Servants .
alternative but to say that his mistress is engaged, if
the formula of “ not at home ” is objected to. In all
cases when the answer of “ not at home ” is returned,
whether the mistress of the house is really out, or
simply “not at home” to visitors, a well-mannered
servant enters into no particulars as to when she went
out, where she has gone, and when she may be ex-
pected to return, but restricts himself to this formula,
and receives the cards left, or the message, if any, the
one in silence, and the other with “ yes, ma’am.”
The mistress of a house usually informs the butler
whether she intends being at home to visitors both in
the morning and in the afternoon. “ If any one calls
this morning, Smith, I am not at home ” ; or, “ I am
not at home to any one this afternoon ; ” or, “You can
say I am not at home this afternoon if any one
calls ; ” or if she wished to see visitors she would pro-
bably say “I am at home to any one who calls.”
But ladies who make a practice of being at home to
all callers, having their time very much at their own
disposal, allow it to be understood that they are at home
to every one, unless an order is given to the contrary.
When a mistress of a house is not down herself to
give the order, she sends it through her maid. The
butler is expected to inform the footman of his mis-
tress’s intention. When a mistress of a house is too
ill to see visitors, and she wishes the fact of her illness
to be known to her friends, she then allows it to be
Opening the Door.
35
said that she is “ too ill to see any one,5’ or, “ not
well enough to see any one.”
In grand establishments where a groom of the
chambers, a butler, and three or four footmen are
kept, one of the footmen opens the door, the other
three stand in the hall, and the groom of the cham-
bers precedes the visitors to the drawing-room, and
announces them to his mistress. In this class of
establishment the footmen wear full-dress livery, knee
breeches, silk stockings, and powdered hair. The
groom of the chambers and the butler are not liveried
servants, and wear black dress coats and white ties.
When an establishment consists of a butler and two
footmen, it is the butler’s duty to answer the door in
the morning, while the footmen are engaged in pantry
work, which, in some houses, is very heavy at this
time of the day.
Where a butler and one footman are kept it is
again the butler’s duty to answer the door in the
morning, while the footman is engaged in pantry
work.
Where a single-handed man-servant is kept, the
lady’s-maid not unfrequently undertakes to answer
the door in the morning to admit of the man-servant
getting through his work before luncheon. Where a
page only is kept the same plan is generally followed.
Where a parlour-maid is kept, the same arrange-
ment is made, that of the lady’s-maid answering the
3^
The Duties of Servants.
door in the morning that the parlour-maid may also
get through her pantry and other work. Where no
lady’s-maid is kept, then the mistress of a house
arranges, when engaging her servants, that the cook
is to answer the door from ten to twelve, to enable
the parlour-maid to get through the heaviest part of
her work. This plan is equally followed in those
small households where no lady’s-maid is kept, and
where the house-maid is engaged to he parlour-maid
as well as house-maid. If a mistress of a house, when
engaging her servants, is not careful in attending to
this point, she will find that a servant cannot perform
his or her work in a satisfactory manner if constantly
called away from it when in the midst of it ; neither
can they present a creditable appearance, if compelled
to hasten from the pantry to the front hall, and that
it is advisable to divide the morning work, apportion-
ing to those servants the duty of answering the door
who have the most leisure at that time. Servants,
if allowed to arrange this matter between themselves,
would probably oblige each other to-day, and refuse
all assistance to-morrow.
Some ladies have an objection to the door being
answered by a maid-servant, when they keep a man-
servant, and expect him to get through his work by
eleven or half-past, but it is only in small households
where this arrangement can be carried out. In ordi-
nary sized households twelve o’clock is the usual hour
Opening the Door.
37
when a single-handed man-servant or parlour- maid
may be expected to resume this duty, and before that
hour people principally call at a house on business ■
they call to take orders and measurements, they bring
home the articles that have been ordered, they bring
things on approbation, or the collector calls for ac-
counts, great and small, for King’s taxes and Parish
rates, water and gas rates. Charity calls are also
made in the morning, and, with family calls, the office
of opening the door in the morning in a house of any
standing is no sinecure, and requires providing for
with some little forethought. By orders is not meant
orders that belong ta the kitchen department, the
baker, the butcher, the fishmonger, the greengrocer,
&c. ; these callers are necessarily answered by the cook
at the area-door, or back-door, as the case may be ;
but those calling for orders at the front door of a
house, generally have business direct with the mastei-
or mistress of it. Parcels and small packages are not
left at the area-door, but are taken to the front door.
Only things appertaining to the kitchen are taken
there.
In the afternoon, from three to six, where a groom
of the chambers, a butler, and three or four footmen
are kept, the one who is termed the ladies’ footman
is the one who “ goes out with the carriage,” as only
on the occasion of a drawing-room or a state enter-
tainment are two footmen in attendance with the
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
LEEDS
33
The Duties of Servants.
carriage ; either of the other footmen opens the
door ; but the groom of the chambers and the butler
remain in the hall during the hours for calling.
Where a butler and two footmen are kept, one
footman — the ladies’ footman — goes out with the
carriage, and the second footman and the butler
answer the door ; where only one footman is kept,
it is the butler’s duty to answer the door when the
footman is out with the carriage. Where a single-
handed man-servant is kept, he goes out with the
carriage, and the lady’s-maid or house-maid answers
the door accordingly as the mistress of the house has
arranged; the same arrangement is made where a
page is kept, his duty of answering the door — when
he is out with the carriage — is performed by the
lady’s-maid or house-maid. When one man-servant
or page is kept, if sent on messages by their mis-
tresses, the same arrangement holds good, but con-
siderate mistresses avoid as far as possible interrupting
their one man-servant or page at his morning work ;
inconsiderate ones, on the contrary, are in the habit
of sending their one servant on long rounds to deliver
notes or messages, not remembering that by so doing
they disarrange the order of his work, and cause him
to be behindhand the whole of the day, or to perform
his work in a hurried and incomplete manner.
In answering the door to visitors, on the bell being
rung, the footman opens the hall-door wide ; he does
Opening the Door.
39
not hold the handle, or the door itself, in his hand,
but opens it to its fullest extent, and stands in the
centre of the doorway. If the visitor is driving, her
footman should inquire of him if his mistress is at
home, and should say, “ Is Mrs. A. at home ? ” He
should not say, “Lady B. is come to see Mrs. A.,”
or make any communications of a like confidential
character; if a visitor has not a footman with her,
and many ladies who patronize hired broughams and
victorias are often obliged to drive out unattended by
a man-servant, the footman opening the door should
go at once to the carriage, and the lady should ask if
Mrs. A. is at home. Ladies driving without a man-
servant to act as footman, either desire the coachman
to leave his box and ring the bell and mount to it
again as quickly as may be, or the coachman hails a
passing boy and politely asks him to ring that bell,
indicating with his whip the bell in question ; he
makes the request with a certain amount of persuasion
in his voice ; street boys are, as he well knows, very in-
dependent, and much given to “chaff”; and were one
to follow the course of a driver of a hired brougham,
coachman by courtesy, one might observe that boys
with baskets are always selected for the office of bell-
ringer in preference to boys without baskets, and
would hear him say, “Will you oblige me by ringing
that bell ? ” or, “ Jist you ring that bell, there’s a good
lad ! Pull it hard, please.” Ladies with more sense,
40
The Duties of Servants.
and less dignity, when they cannot afford to keep a
man-servant, get out of the carriage and ring the door-
bell for themselves, preferring this independence of
action to street hoys being pressed into their service.
Whether the visitor is driving attended or un-
attended by a footman, if the lady of the house is not
at home, cards are given to the footman or servant
answering the door ; if she is at home, the servant of
the lady calling opens the carriage-door for her, or if
she has no servant with her, the one answering the
door performs this office.
When the footman has informed the servant, or
the visitor herself, that his mistress is at home, the
butler, who is standing in the hall, comes forward to
usher her to the drawing-room, and walks before her
a few steps in advance either upstairs to the drawing-
room door, or across the hall, or down the corridor, if
the drawing-room is on the ground-floor. At the
door of the drawing-room the servant asks, “What
name, if you please, ma’am?” and upon the name
being told him, he opens the drawing-room door wide,
and announces Mrs. A. If his mistress is sitting in
the back drawing-room or boudoir, and is not near
enough to hear the announcement, he goes forward
and repeats the name of the visitor to her, leaving
the visitor to seat herself in the front drawing-room.
If, on the contrary, the mistress of a house generally
sits in the back drawing-room, the servant, being
Opening the Door.
4i
aware of this, announces visitors at the door of that
room ; if the mistress of a house is not in the drawing-
room, the servant does not announce the name of the
visitor, but ushers her into the drawing-room, and
informs her that he will let his mistress know that
she is there. Where a groom of the chambers is
kept, it is his duty to announce visitors instead of the
butler ; and where there is only a single-handed man-
servant, page, or parlour-maid kept, it is their duty
to answer the door and announce the visitors in
manner above described. If the visitor is walking,
she or he is received in a similar manner by the
servants of a house. Were a gentleman and lady to
arrive at a house simultaneously, the lady would be
announced before the gentleman; the servant must
not be permitted to couple the names of visitors and
announce them as Mr. Brown and Mrs. Smith.
When he is announcing a husband and wife, he says,
Mr. and Mrs. Brown; or a brother and sister, Mr.
and Miss Smith; or a mother and daughter, Mrs.
and Miss Jones. If two ladies not bearing the same
name pay a call together, their names are coupled
thus— Mrs. Smith and Miss Brown. If two ladies
arrive simultaneously, their names are not coupled ;
the servant says, announcing them at the same
moment, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Brown. Neither would
the names of two gentlemen he coupled, unless they
arrived in company, but they would be announced
D
42
The Duties of Servants.
at the same moment thus — Captain Jones, Captain
Smith.
It would be in extremely had taste were a servant
to leave one visitor waiting in the hall while he
announces the other. Were the door-bell to ring
when a single-handed man-servant, page, or parlour-
maid was about to usher a visitor to the drawing-
room, they must in no case leave the visitor on or at
the foot of the stairs while returning to open the door.
Announcing Visitors.
In announcing any English or foreign prince or
princess, their distinctive titles are employed, thus.
His and Her Eoyal Highness the Prince and Princess
of , His and Her Imperial Highness the Prince
and Princess of , His and Her Serene Highness
the Prince and Princess of , His and Her Serene
Highness the Grand Duke and Duchess of .
In announcing other persons of rank, the full
title is used of marquis and marchioness, earl
and countess, viscount and viscountess, baron and
baroness, but the words Lord and Lady are sub-
stituted in the case of an English baron and his
wife. In announcing a duke or duchess, the words
Hi a or Her Grace are not used, and a servant should
say, The Duke and Duchess of Monmouth. The sons
and daughters of dukes and marquises are announced
by their titles— Christian and surnames.
Opening the Door.
43
The daughters of earls are also announced as Lady
Mary Blank, hut the youngest sons of earls and the
sons and daughters of viscounts and barons are not
announced by the title of Honourable, as it is a
courtesy title never used in announcing visitors. The
Honourable Mr., Mrs., or Miss Blank are announced
as Mr., Mrs., or Miss Blank.
Baronets are announced as Sir George or Sir John
Blank, but the word Bart, is, it is needless to say, not
used when announcing baronets.
It is a vulgar error to style the wives of baronets
Lady John or Lady George, according to the Christian
names of their husbands ; they are announced as they
are addressed, Lady Blank or Lady Dash. The same
remark applies to knights and their wives. They also
are addressed and announced as Sir John or Sir
George Brown or Jones, and their wives as Lady
Brown or Lady Jones. It would be equally vulgar to
announce the wife of an admiral, general, colonel,
major, or captain, as Mrs. General Smith, or Mrs.
Captain Brown, &c.
With regard to showing visitors out, as soon as
the drawing-room bell is rung the servants or
servant should be in readiness in the hall to
show the visitor out. If the visitor is driving,
a footman or man-servant beckons to the coach-
man to drive up, and when he sees her descending
the stairs he calls out “ Coming out ” as a signal
44
The Duties of Servants.
that her footman is to open, the carriage door. In the
country when the drawing-room hell is rung before
the departure of a visitor, it is answered by the butler,
and the order is given for the visitor’s carriage to be
brought round. The butler gives this order to the
footman, who transmits it to the coachman, who is
probably being regaled with beer in the servants’ hall
while his mistress is refreshing herself with tea in the
drawing-room. When the horses are put-to and the
carriage is in readiness, the butler announces the fact
to the visitor, and says “ Your carriage is up, please
ma’am,” or “ Your ladyship’s carriage is up.”
The mode of announcing guests at all entertain-
ments is similar to that already described. Dinner
guests are conducted to the cloak-room by the foot-
man who opens the door to them. The butler or groom
of the chambers awaits them at the foot of the
staircase or in the corridor, and ushers them to the
drawing-room, asking them their names at the door.
When a cloak-room is not provided for gentlemen as
well as ladies, extra accommodation is provided in the
hall, or corridor.
At Dances, Balls, Private Theatricals, At Homes,
and large Five o’clock Teas, guests are first ushered
to the cloak-room, and are then asked by the butler,
who waits in the hall for the purpose, if they will first
go to the tea-room ; the formula in use for these occa-
sions is, “ Will you take tea, ma’am ?” If the guests
Opening the Door.
45
desire refreshments in the shape of tea, cofFeer &c.,
they are shown to the tea-room, and on leaving the
tea-room they are ushered to the drawing-room or
ball-room, and duly announced in the manner before
described.
As tbe carriages are ordered at a certain hour, the
servants of the guests are in waiting in tbe hall at the
exact hour at which carriages have been ordered,
so as to be in readiness to call them up. The linkman
on duty outside the door calls out the name of the
owner of each carriage, which is repeated by the
footman in the hall, that the guests may hear their
carriages announced, and if they are not in readiness
to leave at the moment a carriage is announced, it is
sent on to make way for the next. When the guests
are in readiness to leave, the butler, in answer to
“Mrs. Blank’s carriage,” calls out “Mrs. Blank
coming out.”
When calls are made for business purposes, the
footman or man-servant who answers the door does
not leave the person who calls to see his master or
mistress standing on the doorstep while he ascertains
if his master or mistress will see them, but asks them
to take a seat in the hall. If a servant were in
doubt, as he not unfrequently is, as to whether the
call is a business or friendly one, it would be correct
for him to say, “ I beg your pardon, ma’am, but do
you wish to see my mistress on business ? ” And if
46
The Duties of Servants.
the answer were in the affirmative, he would then
Bay, “ I will take up your card, if you please.” In
which case, he would take the card to his mistress on
a salver, or he would send it to her by her maid if
she were not in the drawing-room. If he took the
card to her himself, he would say, “A person has
called to see you, please, ma’am, and is waiting in
the hall ; ” or he would say, “ A lady wishes to know
if you will see her for five minutes, and has sent up
her card, if you please, ma’am.”
It is necessary that servants in town should exer-
cise a certain amount of discretion as to whom they
admit into the presence of their master or mistress.
Persons having legitimate business at a house gene-
rally evince no reluctance at stating the nature of it
to the servant in attendance, while those persons who
are shy at making it known are persons to be guarded
against.
Well-trained servants do not gossip at the hall-
door with every idle messenger inclined to do so, but
after giving whatever answer there may be, do not
further detain them.
CHAPTER VI.
THE DUTIES OF A HOUSE-STEWARD ; THE DUTIES OF
A GROOM OF THE CHAMBERS ; THE DUTIES OF A
VALET.
As has been said in an earlier chapter of this work,
a house-steward is only considered necessary in house-
holds which are conducted on a very extensive scale,
and where the outlay of money and the general ex-
penses render housekeeping accounts of sufficient im-
portance to demand the attention of a competent
person. Sometimes the house-steward also under-
takes the office of land-steward, in which case his
duties take a wider range. The house-steward has a
sitting-room for his use in the mansion, hut the land-
steward has a house allotted to him, and is a very
different class of individual to the house-steward, who
is, strictly speaking, a sort of head butler, exempt
from menial duties. His duty is to engage the men
and women-servants, with the exception of the per-
sonal attendants of the family, ladies’ maids, nurses,
and valet ; to pay them their wages, and to dismiss
them. To order everything that is necessary for the
48
The Duties of Servants.
wants of the household ; to pay the household bills ;
to keep the household hooks ; and to see that order
and regularity is maintained amongst the servants.
When the upper servants have their meals in the
steward’s room, the steward assists the housekeeper
in carving. The house-steward is responsible to his
master for the money that passes through his hands, and
usually submits thehouseholdbooks for his approval once
a month. The house-steward is not a livery-servant,
and does not receive an allowance for his clothes.
The Groom of the Chambers, like the house-
steward, is a class of servant belonging to the house-
holds of the very wealthy. He is also a species of butler;
hut one from whom menial work is expected. His
principal duty is to announce visitors to his mistress ;
and he may be looked upon as the custodian of the
sitting-rooms, besides being on duty in the corridors,
in case his services should he required to show any
strange guests to their rooms, or to open or close
doors. He remains in the front hall in the afternoon,
in readiness to announce visitors, or to receive the cards
left. He makes the round of the sitting-rooms three
or four times during the day, to ascertain that every-
thing is in order. He assists in waiting at breakfast,
luncheon, and dinner. He stands outside the drawing-
room or library door, to open it for the guests as they
severally come down before dinner. He assists in carry-
ing in the tea and coffee into the drawing-room after
The Duties of a House Steward , etc. 49
dinner, and is in attendance in the hall when the family
retire for the night, to light the bedroom candles.
Where there are large suites of reception-rooms in
constant use, and where the family are in the habit of
receiving a great deal of company, the office of a groom
of the chambers is not a sinecure. It is customary for
noblemen and very wealthy gentry to be waited upon
by this description of upper servant.
A groom of the chambers does not wear livery, but
receives an allowance for plain clothes in addition to
his wages.
Valets are generally kept by single gentlemen
and by elderly gentlemen, and seldom by married
men, unless by noblemen or persons of considerable
wealth. Single men require the services of a valet,
unless they keep a butler and footman, when the
butler acts as valet. Elderly gentlemen often require
the services of a valet in addition to those of the men-
servants of their establishments, as constant personal
attendance cannot satisfactorily be given by a butler
who has other duties to perform.
Young men who pay rounds of visits to country
houses cannot easily dispense with a valet. Sports-
men, and men given to hunting and shooting, find the
services of one invaluable.
Amongst the duties of a valet are the following : —
to brush his master’s clothes ; to clean his top-boots,
shooting, walking, and dress-boots ; to carry up the
50
The Duties of Servants.
water for his master’s bath ; to put out his things for
dressing ; to shave him, if necessary ; to assist him
in dressing ; to pack and unpack his clothes when
travelling ; to put out his master’s things for dinner ;
to carry up the hot water to his dressing-room.
To load for him when out shooting ; to stand
behind his master’s chair at dinner ; and more espe-
cially to wait upon his master and the lady taken
down to dinner by him. When at home he is ex-
pected to wait at his master’s breakfast, and at the
family luncheon and dinner ; he attends to his
master’s wardrobe, and sees that everything is in
repair and in order. A valet to an elderly gentle-
man, besides performing these duties, renders any
services that the state of his master’s health may
require ; such as sitting up at night, carrying him up
and down stairs during the day, when required to
do so, or sleeping in his room at night, &c.
Where a courier is engaged to travel with a gentle-
man, his duty is also to valet him.
A valet is not a livery-servant ; he does not receive
an allowance for clothes, and his master’s left-off clothes
are given to him.
CHAPTER VII.
THE BUTLER’S DUTIES.
The office of butler is as ancient as it is respon-
sible, and in all establishments, from the largest to
the smallest, be is tbe bead of bis department, and
is answerable for tbe property placed under bis charge,
and for tbe proper performance of tbe duties of
those under him, viz., tbe footman or footmen.
Tbe butler is supposed to have served bis appren-
ticeship in domestic service, first as under-footman,
then as bead-footman or under-butler ; be is, there-
fore, able to judge of tbe amount of work that a foot-
man is equal to getting through, and bow it should be
done.
Some masters and mistresses object to engaging a
married man as butler ; they consider that a married
man is likely to spend too much of bis time at home,
and to be consequently away from bis master’s bouse
when most wanted ; and, further, that tbe cares and
expenses of a family probably militate against bis
52
The Duties of Servants.
being as well dressed and as smart-looking a servant
as an unmarried man would presumably be. They
also fear that, having a wife and family to support,
great temptation is placed in his way, temptation which
some masters consider their servants should not be
exposed to, in case of their being too weak to resist
it. Great poverty might induce a father or husband
to commit acts of dishonesty, and to become unfaithful
to trust reposed in him, which a single man would
not be tempted to commit ; as, for instance, if the
family of a butler were in great distress through the
illness of his wife and children, or through other
causes, having the charge of the family plate he might
be tempted to raise money at a pawnbroker’s upon
any portion or article that was not in general use, or
likely to be required before he was able to redeem it.
This is by no means an imaginary temptation, but is
one of frequent occurrence, as the police reports
testify.
Again, the wine under a butler’s charge is a
temptation to a married man whose wife is ailing and
very much in need of strengthening things. Half
bottles of wine and whole bottles of wine are under
such circumstances not unlikely to find their way to
the butler’s home ; while he justifies himself for this
lapse of trust by the specious reasoning that a bottle
or two of wine can make no possible difference to a
master whose cellars are so bountifully stocked, while
The Butler s Duties.
53
to his wife it makes all the difference in the matter of
regaining health and strength.
This is but the weak side of human nature, and
there are married butlers worthy of the trust reposed
in them, perhaps because they are not so greatly tried
as are others. Still, the generality of masters and
mistresses disapprove of their butlers being married
men for the before-mentioned reasons, while others,
again, consider that a butler who is married is likely
to be more steady in the household than one who is
unmarried ; and single ladies or widow ladies attach
great importance to the fact of their butler being a
married man, and rely upon his good character as a
sufficient guarantee of his honesty.
If the butler takes a situation, representing himself
as an unmarried man when he is in reality a married
man, he is liable to be dismissed without notice,
through having made misrepresentations respecting
himself.
Insobriety is a very common failing amongst
butlers, and one that cannot be too greatly guarded
against on the part of masters and mistresses when
making inquiries respecting the character of a butler.
It is but poor consolation to know that a butler may
be dismissed at a moment’s notice if guilty of this
offence, as the inconvenience to which a master and
mistress are subjected when they are unfortunate
enough to engage a butler addicted to drink, is of a
54
The Duties of Servants.
serious nature ; therefore, when engaging a butler, a
personal character from a reliable source is indis-
pensable.
A butler in a large establishment, where perhaps
three footmen are kept, has not as much actual
pantry work to do as would devolve upon him in a
household where only one footman is kept, but his
duties are quite as arduous, although they take
another direction.
The establishment being on a large scale, increases
his responsibility, and the amount of company kept
greatly increases the work of the pantry.
The plate chest is in the charge of the butler, and
an inventory of its contents is given on its being made
over to him, and he is responsible to his master for
its safety. If any article is lost, or missing, or
damaged while in his charge, his master holds him
answerable for it, therefore it behoves a butler to be
extremely careful as to whom he admits into his
pantry when the plate is being cleaned, and also to
exercise great caution when engaging extra help to
assist at dinner parties and balls.
It is the butler’s duty, every night before retiring
to rest, to see that the plate in everyday use is care-
fully put away, and also to give it out in the morning
to be cleaned. lie also gives out plate used at
dinner parties or balls, and sees that it is properly
cleaned for use.
The Butler s Duties.
55
His next responsibility is tlie wine cellar. The
cellar book is the check upon the butler as to the
quantity of wine drunk in a gn en time. The master
of every establishment keeps the keys of his wine
cellars, and gives out so many dozens of wine for the
consumption of the household, either once a week, or
once a month, according as he wishes to save himself
trouble or to maintain a closer supervision over what
is consumed. The butler’s duty is to enter into the
cellar book the amount of wine given out, and the
number of bottles drunk per day, whether claret,
champagne, sherry, or port.
On the occasion of a dinner party or a dance, a
master of a house gives out so many dozens of wine,
according to the number of guests invited to dinner
or dance. The wine thus given into a butler’s charge
is kept by him in a separate cellar, of which he keeps
the key.
It is the butler’s duty to decant the wine for daily
use, both for luncheon and dinner, and to put away
the decanters of wine after each meal. Bottling wine
and brewing beer are two important duties performed
by a butler in both large and small establishments,
although brewing beer is exclusively confined to
households in the country. A master of a house
tastes, chooses, and buys his own wine, and does not
depute his butler to do this for him.
Wine sent in for bottling undergoes the proper
56
The Duties of Servants.
process of fining before it is delivered, and a butler
should not venture upon introducing any mixtures of
his own concoction for the purpose of fining it, but
should bottle it as soon as it is in a proper condition
for the purpose, it having remained sufficiently long
in the cellar to become clear. In bottling valuable
wine he should not only rely upon his judgment
as to the condition of the wine, but should, if not
thoroughly experienced in the matter, submit a
sample to his master for his approval.
A butler should have his bottles in readiness
several days beforehand, and when engaged in
bottling wine, he probably rises as early as four or
five in the morning that his cellar work may not
materially interfere with his duties of the day.
In bottling sherry, the wine that is drawn off after
the cask has been tilted, is kept by the butler in his
cellar for the use of the cook, and given out as
required.
Country butlers greatly pride themselves upon the
excellent beer they brew, but those who have to
drink it are apt to consider it rather hard and a trifle
sour ; but as it is brewed for the consumption of the
household, and seldom makes its appearance in the
dining-room, those who are obliged to drink it, if they
have an opinion as to its demerits, are not in a
position to express it. The butler usually selects a
week in which to brew, when his master and mistress
The Butler's Duties.
57
are away from home, that he may have sufficient
time to devote to the occupation. But bottling wine
and brewing beer are occasional rather than every
day duties, and the every day duties of a butler con-
sist of the following.
Where a valet is not kept, it is a butler’s duty to
valet his master (see Chapter on “ Duties of a Valet,”
&c.), and when acting in the capacity of a valet,
he receives the left-off wardrobe of his master, which
makes his situation a more lucrative one.
When two or three footmen are kept, a butler waits
at breakfast, luncheon, tea, and dinner, and overlooks
the arrangements of the table for each meal (see the
various chapters hearing upon these subjects).
During the afternoon it is a butler’s duty to remain
in the front hall in readiness to announce visitors (see
Chapter, “ Opening the Door, &c.”).
It is the butler’s duty throughout the day to see
that everything is in its place and in order, in
readiness for use in the drawing-room, morning-room,
and library ; the blinds up or down as the case may
he, writing tables in due order, hooks rearranged,
newspapers cut, aired, and folded for use, fires
attended to by the footman, &c., &c.
In households where one footman is kept, a large
portion of the pantry work falls to the share of the
butler : he lays the breakfast table, waits at breakfast,
and clears away the breakfast things ; he assists in
E
53
The Duties of Servants.
cleaning the plate and in attending to the lamps ; he
waits at luncheon ; and when the footman has to go
out with the carriage early in the afternoon, a butler
clears away the luncheon and lays the dinner-table.
While the footman is out with the carriage, the butler
answers the door, attends to the fires in dining-room,
drawing-rooms, and various sitting-rooms of the house,
and in the autumn, winter, and early spring, he closes
the shutters in the sitting-rooms before the footman’s
return, and prepares the five-o’clock tea in readiness
for the return of his mistress.
A butler is usually allowed to go out in the morning
from twelve to one, and again from half-past nine to
eleven, in town establishments.
CHAPTER VIII.
footmen’s duties.
In households where two or three footmen are
kept, heads of families make a point of keeping tall
footmen, and having men of equal height to avoid the
incongruity of appearance that men-servants of un-
equal height would present. Where only one foot-
man is kept, his height is immaterial, and smartness
and neatness of appearance are alone required of
him.
As we have mentioned already, two footmen are
not unfrequently kept in lieu of a butler and one
footman ; and when this is the case, although the
pantry work is equally divided, yet the head footman
as he is termed, receives higher wages than the second
footman, and has the charge of the plate and of the
wine given out.
Where two or three footmen and a butler are kept
the head footman, although in livery, is termed the
under butler. He does not go out with the carriage ;
it is the duty of the second footman to do so ; it is the
6o
The Duties of Servants.
under butler’s duty to remain in the front hall to
answer the door to visitors during the afternoon.
Where a butler and one footman are kept, it is the
one footman’s duty to go out with the carriage.
What is termed the lady’s footman is usually the
second footman where three are kept. In the divi-
sion of work, where two or three footmen are kept,
the third footman performs such duties as bringing in
coals and wood, cleaning knives and boots, &c., and in
the country pumping or drawing the water for daily
use ; while the under butler and second footman clean
the plate, trim and clean the lamps, and where a still-
room maid is not kept, they also wash the breakfast
and tea services in use.
Their daily round of duties may betaken as follows:
— To rise at half-past six in summer and seven in
winter ; to take coals to the sitting-room ; to clean the
boots ; to trim the lamps ; clean the plate ; to lay the
breakfast-table for the family ; to carry in the break-
fast ; to wait at breakfast ; to remove the breakfast
things ; to answer the door in the morning after
twelve o’clock, to take out notes if required ; to lay
the luncheon-table ; to take in the luncheon ; to wait
at table ; to clear the table ; to wash the silver and
glass used at luncheon ; to lay the dinner-table ; to go
out with the carriage in the afternoon ; to answer the
door to visitors ; to close the shutters in the sitting-
rooms ; to attend to the fires therein throughout the
Footmen s Duties.
61
day and evening ; to prepare and assist in carrying in
the afternoon tea ; to clear the table after tea ; to
wash and put away the china ; to wait at dinner (see
work entitled “ Waiting at Table ”) ; to clear the
dinner-table ; to assist in putting away the plate ; to
wash the glass and silver used at dinner and dessert ;
to prepare and assist in carrying in the coffee to
the dining-room, and coffee also into the drawing-
room ; to he in attendance in the front hall when
dinner guests are leaving the house, on the occasion
of a dinner party ; to attend to the requirements of
the gentlemen in the smoking-room ; to attend to the
lighting of the house, generally, as soon as it is dusk,
whether lighted with gas, lamps, or candles ; to clean,
arrange, and have in readiness the flat silver candle-
sticks, before the dressing-room hell rings in winter,
and by ten o’clock in summer ; to go out with the
carriage when it is ordered in the evening ; to valet
the young gentlemen of the family.
When only one footman is kept, the butler assists
him in various of these duties ; but in every case the
footman goes out with the carriage, afternoon and
evening.
Footmen are usually allowed two suits of livery a
year. Some heads of families give higher wages and
allow their servants to find their own liveries ; but
this latter plan does not work so satisfactorily as the
former, and footmen who find their own liveries are
62
The Duties of Servants.
not, as a rule, so well dressed as those whose liveries
are found for them.
Where two or three footmen are kept, the under
butler and the second footman are expected to wait at
breakfast. Where two footmen are kept, the under-
butler only assists the butler in waiting at breakfast ;
but where one footman is kept, he does not do so by
reason of his having so much work to get through.
A mooted point in some households is whether a
footman is expected to carry up coals for bedroom
fires. The general rule is that it is the footman’s
duty to carry coals to dining-room, library, drawing-
rooms, &c., and also to the best bedrooms.
CHAPTER IX.
THE DUTIES OF A SINGLE-HANDED MAN-SERVANT
AND PAGE-BOY.
The single-handed man-servant performs the com-
bined duties of butler and footman. The class who
keep this order of servant is a large one, as it comprises
those possessing very moderate incomes, and very
small incomes. There are, of course, exceptions to
this rule, viz., those who possess fairly good incomes,
yet keep but little company, and live what is termed
very quietly, who can afford, were they so inclined,
to keep two men-servants, but prefer to keep one
man-servant only, in or out of livery.
A single-handed man-servant is not a liveried
servant, although he is allowed two suits of clothes
a year, or extra wages to find his own clothes. A
single-handed man-servant is expected to be an
experienced servant, and to have lived as footman
under a good butler ; but a trustworthy and well-
trained servant of this class is not always easy to
64
The Duties of Servants.
meet with, as footmen who have lived in good
families, usually look forward to ultimately taking
situations as butlers, and, once having taken situa-
tions as single-handed servants, find a difficulty in
obtaining situations as butlers, and the wages of a
single-handed man-servant are not as high as are
those of a butler ; while the place is a far harder one,
and requires no little method, industry, and briskness
to perform the many duties required of him in a
satisfactory manner.
His duties include the following : to rise early, so
that before his breakfast he may have completed the
rougher work of the day, such as getting in coals and
wood, cleaning the knives and hoots, etc. ; his duty is
to valet the gentlemen of the family, to brush their
clothes, to carry them up and put them out for
dressing, to carry up water for the gentlemen’s baths,
shaving- water, etc. ; to lay the breakfast for the
family; to be dressed to carry in |the breakfast,
although not expected to wait at that meal; to take
away the breakfast things, to wash and replace in
the pantry cupboard ; to trim and clean the lamps ;
to clean the plate ; to lay the luncheon, to wait at
luncheon when required to do so, to clear away the
luncheon, and wash the glass and silver used; to
attend to the sitting-room fires ; to be in readiness to
answer the drawing-room bell ; to answer the door in
the afternoon, when not out with the carriage ; to go
Duties of a Single-handed M an-sevvant. 65
out with the carriage afternoon and evening when
required ; to close the shutters in the sitting-rooms ;
to keep the front hall in order ; to put coats, hats
and umbrellas in their places ; to prepare and carry
in the afternoon tea, to clear it away, wash and
replace the china, &c. ; to lay the table for dinner,
to wait at dinner (see “Waiting at Table”), to clear
the table, to wash the glass and silver and put
everything in its place ; to carry the coffee into the
drawing-room, to clear it away, wash and replace the
china, etc. ; to prepare the candles for the sitting-
rooms, and to have the flat candlesticks in readiness
in the hall ; to see that the doors and windows of the
house are properly secured ; to draw the beer for the
servants’ lunch, dinner, and supper. The single-
handed man-servant is not entrusted with the cellar-
book, and very little wine, if any, is placed in his
charge, the master or mistress preferring to take
charge of it themselves ; he is not expected to bottle
wine or to brew beer ; but he is often expected to
make himself useful in the house when required ; to
move and clean furniture ; to clean windows, mirrors,
chandeliers, etc. When the single-handed man-
servant is out with the carriage, or absent for any
other reason, it is the duty of the lady’s-maid or
housemaid to answer the door.
In some few households a page is kept instead of a
man-servant ; but it is not a general practice to do so,
66
The Duties of Servants.
and people who cannot afford to keep a man-servant,
find that a parlour-maid is more useful and efficient
than is a page and far less pretentious in appearance.
In hotels and clubs a page ie found useful to carry
messages, notes, etc. ; but in private families a page-
boy is anything hut a satisfactory servant. He
generally enters into service at an age when hoys are
most troublesome and require keeping in order. If
there are children in the family the page plays with
them, instead of attending to his work ; he is not
strong enough or big enough to lift and carry large
trays up and downstairs. Method in the performance
of his work is not to be expected of him ; he is im-
pertinent to the women-servants if they venture upon
expostulating with him, is expensive by reason of
his destructiveness, and is more addicted to habits of
idleness than industry.
A page is only at his best in those families where a
butler and footman are kept, as in large households a
page is occasionally kept in addition to the men-
servants, and where the work is comparatively heavy,
when he assists the footman in many of his duties ;
but the single-handed page is rather an obsolete
servant, and is principally to be found in those
families where comfort is sacrificed to would-be
gentility. When a page is kept in these small
families his duties are those of a single-handed man-
servant, with the exception of drawing the beer for
Duties of a Single-handed Man-servant. 67
the servants, and seeing that the house is closed at
night. A page is allowed two suits of livery a year
and one working suit, and this livery is the property
of the master and mistress, and a page is not entitled
to claim it when leaving his situation.
CHAPTER X.
THE DUTIES OF COACHMEN AND GROOMS.
The duties of a coachman vary according to the
position he occupies, that is to say, whether he is head
coachman, second coachman with grooms under him,
or whether he is coachman with one or two grooms
under him, or coachman and groom in one.
"Where two coachmen are kept, the stable depart-
ment is on a large scale, and two carriages are often
ordered at the same hour, when the head coachman
drives a pair of horses and the second coachman
drives one horse. The head coachman invariably
drives a pair of horses in the barouche or other open
carriage, and the second coachman the one 'horse
brougham.
The night work, such as driving the family to a
ball, or driving to and from the railway-station, is the
duty of the second coachman.
It is the duty of the head coachman to see that
those under him perform their work in a thoroughly
efficient manner, and that the horses are properly fed
and groomed, the carriages and harness are thoroughly
The Duties of Coachmen and Grooms. 69
cleaned, the stables and harness-room are in perfect
order. Occasionally the second coachman’s duty is to
exercise the horses, and to assist in cleaning the
carriages and the harness in use.
A head coachman’s is an office of considerable trust.
Whether he orders the hay, corn, straw, &c., or
whether it is ordered by his master, he has the
charge of it, and the expenses of the stables in other
directions, which are considerable, are also under his
management.
Where two coachmen and as many grooms are kept,
the carriage is probably out three times a day ; where
one coachman and groom are kept, it is usual to have
a carriage out twice only, a pair of horses in the
afternoon, and a pair or single horse in the evening,
or a pair in the morning and again in the afternoon.
A horse for night work is frequently kept when the
carriage is much required in the evening, and when
the condition of the carriage horses is considered.
The coachman’s duty is to assist the groom in
cleaning the carriages and the harness, and in groom-
ing the horses. Where one coachman is kept without
a groom under him, he only expects to go out with
the carriage once a day, either morning, afternoon, or
evening, that is, if a pair of horses are kept and two
carriages, and they are expected to look up to the
mark ; but if the coachman has only the charge of
one horse and one carriage, brougham, waggonette,
70
The Duties of Servants.
or victoria, the carriage can be had out twice a day
without overworking the coachman.
In some families coachmen have their meals in
the house with the other servants, in others they
have hoard wages allowed them, and rooms over the
stables or a cottage rent free. A coachman submits
his book of incidental expenses of the stables to his
master either weekly, fortnightly, or monthly.
A groom’s principal duty is to attend to the horses
and to exercise them ; and to groom them through-
out the day after they have been out, to clean the
carriages and harness, feed the horses, &c. The
stables are expected to be ready for his master’s
inspection by nine or ten o’clock each morning.
A pad-groom is in attendance upon his master and
mistress out riding, whether to covert or elsewhere,
and has the charse of the saddle horses.
CHAPTER XI.
THE HOUSEKEEPER’S DUTIES.
\
The duties of a housekeeper are, in the majority of
establishments, united to those of a cook or lady’s-
maid, but in large establishments the office of house-
keeper is a distinct one.
In households where the domestics number from
five-and-twenty to thirty, the office of housekeeper is
no sinecure, more especially in the country, when the
heads of establishments entertain largely, and when
the house is, during the winter months, more or less
full of guests : — country house parties include not only
guests but probably a large number of servants, who
have to be accommodated and catered for.
In this class of establishment the sole management
of the female servants rests with the housekeeper ; it
is her duty to engage and to dismiss them, with the
exception of the nurse, lady’s-maid, and cook, whom
the mistress of a house herself engages.
The management of the storeroom is in the hands
of a housekeeper ; she orders in the stores and gives
72
The Duties of Servants.
them out as required ; the house linen is in her
charge, and it is her business to attend to it — to keep
it in repair, and supply new when required ; the
china-closet is under her charge, and the stillroom
department is superintended by her ; she superintends
the arrangements of the bedrooms, and both those for
visitors and servants come under her daily super-
vision, and, subject to the approval of her mistress,
she decides the rooms they are to occupy.
She requires to have methodical habits, to be firm
and impartial in her dealings with the under servants,
although strictly exacting respecting the due per-
formance of their duties, as she in all respects repre-
sents her mistress, and is invested with her authority.
The daily round of a housekeeper’s duties may be
said to commence with her appearance in the house-
keeper’s room at half-past seven in the morning, when
she proceeds to overlook the arrangements of the still-
room, to see that the china is given out for breakfast,
together with the table-linen (see “ Stillroom Maid’s
Duties ”). At eight o’clock she pours out the tea and
presides over the housekeeper’s-room breakfast, after
which she again looks to the still-room arrange-
ments for the family breakfast. She then gives out
the stores for the day, and assists the stillroom maid
to wash up the china in use, and puts the preserves
away that have been on the breakfast-table ; she
then makes the round of the bedrooms, and sees that
The Housekeeper' s Duties.
73
soap, candles, writing-paper, and inkstands have been
attended to, and that the drawers and wardrobes have
been properly dusted and papered ; that the chintzes,
muslin curtains, and covers are fresh, and that the
rooms are thoroughly in order. At one o’clock she
leads the way into the servants’ hall, and takes her
place at the head of the dinner-table, and carves one
of the joints ; she then leads the way to the house-
keeper’s room, and takes the head of the table, and
helps the sweets or cheese. In the afternoon she
arranges the dessert for the dinner, and makes the
tea for the drawing-room five o’clock tea. She also
makes the coffee sent in after dinner. She sees
that the dessert is put away when brought from
the dining-room.
She makes the preserves and bottles the fruit ; she
is referred to respecting all domestic arrangements ;
she keeps the housekeeping accounts, and the greater
part of the needlework required in the house is done
by her, with or without assistance, according to the
amount of work to be got through.
A very general plan, even in wealthy families, is
for the cook to take the office of housekeeper, or even
for the lady’s-maid to do so ; but in these cases the
authority invested in their hands is not nearly so
great as that invested in the hands of a housekeeper
proper, and they may always be looked upon as deputy
housekeepers, as the engaging and dismissing of the
• F
74
The Duties of Servants.
servants, the ordering of stores, and the active super-
vision of the household, still remain with the mistress ;
but in all other respects the duties are the same,
although in some households the upper housemaid
has the charge of the house and table-linen.
In the country the housekeeper materially helps
her mistress in her charities to the poor, carries out
her orders, and attends to their wants.
CHAPTER XII.
THE DUTIES OF A COOK.
The duties of a cook depend greatly upon the scale
of establishment to which, she belongs. In the case of
a professed cook, the elementary portion of the cook-
ing, the plain cooking, and all that relates to cleaning
and scouring in kitchen, scullery, larder, and passages,
and all cooking utensils, is done by the kitchen and
scullery maids, and only the cooking proper is the
duty of this class of cook. All ingredients are prepared
for her use, and the kitchen-maids wait upon her and
act under her orders.
A man cook takes even a higher position, and
undertakes still less of the plain cooking of the house
than does a woman cook.
A first-class cook is not expected to be down until a
few minutes before eight, in time for breakfast in the
steward’s room or housekeeper’s room. If she is
housekeeper as well as cook, she makes and pours out
the tea for the upper servants (see Chapter, “Ser-
vants’ Meals”). After her own breakfast, she attends
;6
The Duties of Servants.
to and superintends the breakfast for the family, and
the management of tbe breakfast is left in her bands,
to provide what she judges best according to her
knowledge of the style of breakfast that the family
prefer (see “Waiting at Table”). She makes out
a menu for the day’s dinner and for the day’s
luncheon on a slate according to the contents of the
larder, and with due regard to variety. In some
households the servants’ -hall dinner is also 'written on
a slate ; in others it is left to the management of the
cook.
Some mistresses have the slate brought to them by
a footman at about eleven o’clock, and make any
alteration they may think proper, and return it by
him to the cook. Other mistresses have the slate
brought to them by the cook, in place of having it
sent up, and consult with him or her respecting any
change in the menu for the day. This is the most
practical mode of proceeding, as, if the mistress has
any suggestions to make in this direction, she can
urge them upon the cook, or if she has a remark to
offer, or a fault to find with the cook’s mode of
serving any particular dish, the opportunity is given
for so doing.
Some ladies stand very much in awe of their cooks,
knowing that those iwho consider themselves to be
thoroughly experienced will not brook fault-finding,
or interference with their manner of cooking, and
The D tities of a Cook.
77
give notice to leave on the smallest pretext. Thus,
when ladies obtain a really good cook, they deal with
her delicately, and are inclined to let her have her
own way with regard to serving the dinner.
Other ladies, again, who keep a professed cook,
consider that all responsibility is thus taken off their
hands, and do not trouble themselves to see the cook
respecting the arrangements for the day, but leave
them entirely to her discretion, scarcely doing more
than to glance at the menu submitted to them. But,
however high the capabilities of a cook may be, the
relations between her and her mistress are on a much
more satisfactory footing if she confers with her each
morning, instead of merely approving the menu.
In town, the cook gives the necessary orders to the
tradespeople who serve the house. If she is house-
keeper and cook she gives out the stores required ; she
then prepares the soup for the following day, as
soup is seldom made the day it is required to be
eaten ; the pastry, the jellies, the creams, the entrees
are all made by her during the morning, and any
dishes of this nature that are to be served at luncheon
are also made by her. After her own dinner, she
dishes up the luncheon. The servants’ -hall dinner is
cooked hy the kitchen-maid. (See “ Kitchen-maid’s
Duties”).
The afternoon is very much at the cook’s disposal,
except on the occasion of a dinner-party, or when
73
The Duties of Servants.
guests are staying in the house, when there is natur-
ally more work to he done. Five to nine is always a
very busy time with the cook; dishing up a large
dinner is an arduous duty, the greatest order and
regularity being maintained in the kitchen the while,
perfect silence is enjoined save when an order is given
concerning the work in hand. It would be an advan-
tage if, in small establishments, this rule of silence
were as absolute, as where gossiping in the kitchen
is encouraged by the cook, hindrance and consequent
delay in the work is the natural result.
When the dinner has been duly served the cook’s
duties for the day are over, and the remainder of tho
kitchen work is performed by the kitchen-maids.
In households where three are kept in the kitchen,
cook, kitchen-maid, and scullery-maid, the cook is less
of an artiste, and more of the general cooking falls to
her share, she having but one kitchen-maid to assist
her ; and where but one kitchen-maid is kept she does
not undertake so much of the cooking as where two
are kept ; the head kitchen-maid in large establish-
ments being practically a second cook.
In households where only two are kept in the
kitchen, viz., cook and kitchen-maid, the cook unites
the duties of head kitchen-maid to those of cook,
while the kitchen-maid performs those of kitchen-
maid and scullery-maid. This is a very large class of
household, and here the mistress personally super-
The Duties of a Cook.
79
intends tilings. Instead of the menu being prepared for
her inspection, she herself inspects the contents of the
larder attended by the cook ; she makes her own
suggestions as to what she will have for dinner and
luncheon, and for the servants’-hall dinner, and writes
down her orders for the cook to carry out. Cooks in
this class of households are expected to be down by
seven o’clock, and although they have not to light
fires, or perform any cleaning and scouring of
kitchen and basement, they are required to see that
the kitchen-maid performs her duty in a thorough
manner. If the cook acts as housekeeper also, she
makes and pours out the tea in the housekeeper’s-
room, and gives out the stores ; she gives the necessary
orders for the day to the tradespeople who send round
for them, she cooks the luncheon and the servants’
dinner, she cooks the family dinner, and she takes
charge of all that is left from the dining-room
dinner.
It is an understood thing that the cook has certain
perquisites connected with her place, amongst others
the dripping from the roast joints, of which, in large
establishments, there is a considerable quantity. Eco-
nomical mistresses would be glad if this large waste
could be brought into use in the kitchen for frying
and other purposes; but cooks absolutely refuse to
comply with this wish, on the ground that it is their
lawful perquisite, and that they could not use it in
So
The Billies of Servants.
their cooking if it were not so. Against this argu-
ment, it may be mentioned that a first- class French
cook at a West End Club, renowned for its cuisine,
makes a practice of clarifying all the dripping (by
means of cold water, &c.) made from the joints roasted,
using it for pastry and frying whitebait, and all kinds
of fish, potato-chips, &c., and prefers it in the one
case to butter, and in the other to lard. The saving
in these two items amounts to a considerable sum.
The same plan is also followed with a like success in
an establishment of a nobleman residing in one of the
squares of Belgravia, in whose household numerous
other economies are practised. Noblemen with small
means and gentlemen with small means — and there
are a few of the former as there are many of the
latter — are under the necessity of practising economy
in every department of their households ; and in these
days of general retrenchment, when the mistress of a
house curtails all household expenses in her power ; to
“ keep down ” the household bills, is one of the first
points of attack, and the kitchen offers a large field
for such operations.
If a mistress is desirous of obtaining the co-opera-
tion of a cook in reducing expense in the kitchen,
a little present made to her will, in almost all cases,
render her very amenable to any plan of this kind
her mistress may propose ; and there are many such
points where a saving of expense can be arrived at
The Duties of a Coo/e.
8 1
without any falling off in the comfort of house-
keeping.
In small households where only a cook is kept,
with a scullery-maid, or a girl in the scullery, under
her to do the rough work, her duties are many and
heavy if the family is a large one, and if there is a great
deal of cooking ; hut if the family is a small one, the
contrary is the case. No responsibility as regards order-
ing or arranging for the meals of the house rests with
her : though, if she is conscientious and careful of the
interests of the family, she can materially assist her
mistress in suggesting dishes, with a view to using
the cold meat, &c., or in making suggestions for the
servants’ dinner, in accordance with the contents of
the larder. A mistress of a house expects to find the
kitchen and all connected with it in perfect order by
the time she is ready to order dinner ; and a cook
who unites method with cleanliness — two points of
paramount importance in a cook — always keeps the
kitchen in thorough order.
A plain cook in a small household where no
kitchen or scullery-maid is kept, and where the work
of the house is done by a housemaid, who also acts as
parlour-maid, has other duties to perform unconnected
with the kitchen department. Her business is, then,
to sweep and dust the dining-room, clean the grate,
and light the fire ; to sweep and clean the front hall
and the front door-steps in addition to the work of
82
The Duties of Servants.
the kitchen. This class of cook is expected to be down
at six in the summer and half-past six in the winter,
and she lights the kitchen fire and gets through her
work upstairs before putting her kitchen in order;
she then lays the kitchen breakfast. After her own
breakfast she cooks the breakfast for the family, she
assists the housemaid to make her mistress’s bed, and
she answers the door up to half-past twelve.
Plain cooking makes but very little work in com-
parison with professed cooking. Copper stew-pans,
sautd pans, a hot stove, a charcoal fire, a hot plate, a
gas stove, are not in every-day use ; and, oftener than
not, the cook has a kitchener instead of a range to
cook at ; while the dinner generally consists of fish,
a joint and vegetables, a pudding or tart ; and the
luncheon is either a joint, vegetables and plain pud-
ding, or cold meat, salad and potatoes.
There are, of course, exceptions to be met with in
this class of cook, and exceptions to this routine of
plain living in small households of this description,
and mistresses occasionally meet with what is termed
a plain cook who has a talent for cooking, and who
is superior to others of her class in this respect. Ladies
in search of a moderately good cook, and not willing to
pay the high wages asked by a professed cook, gene-
rally find that a young woman who has been head
kitchen-maid under a good cook, is far preferable to
one who has been plain cook in a small family. A
The Duties of a Cook. S3
kitchen-maid has assisted in the best style of cooking,
and has served her apprenticeship in a good school,
she has had a great deal of practice in the first, second,
and third principles of cooking, she knows how things
ought to be done, and how they should taste, and how
they should look She is not so extravagant in her
notions and ideas as is a professed cook, she is not so
impatient of interference from her mistress, and is
inclined to fall in with the ways of the house.
There is, however, no little class and caste to be
found amongst cooks and kitchen-maids, and one who
has been kitchen-maid in a large establishment does
not care to take a situation in a small family where
there is no one under her in the kitchen, and still
less where she is expected to assist in the housework.
Thus plain cooks in small families are rarely those
who have learnt the art of cooking in large households,
but are in a great measure self-taught, and have often
as much to unlearn as to learn. Housekeeping arrange-
ments in small households differ materially, thus in-
fluencing the work of the kitchen more or less. In some
households the family have a hot joint for luncheon,
with vegetables, this answers for luncheon in the dining-
room, for the children’s dinner, and for the servants’
dinner, therefore only one mid-day meal has to be
cooked, but it is served differently according to the
rules of the house. It is either sent up into the
dining-room where the children dine at the family
84
The Duties of Servants.
luncheon, and is then sent down for the servants’
dinner ; or the children’s dinner is helped from the
dining-room, slices of meat being placed upon a dish,
and dishes of vegetables sent with it to the nursery or
school-room, or the cook carves the joint in the kitchen,
and sends up a dish of meat to the dining-room and
one to the nursery. But this plan is only followed
when but one or two members of the family are at
home to luncheon. Again, there are households
where there is a separate dinner for the servants :
perhaps hot meat one day and cold meat another day,
quite distinct from what is ordered for the dining-
room, which luncheon consists of little dishes, re-
chauffes from the previous night’s dinner, or little
inexpensive dishes which are not rechauffes. This
last method, although more economical, makes more
work for the cook, and more scullery- work also to be
done.
The early part of the afternoon is required by her
for this scullery-work. She has then to prepare the
dining-room dinner, which, in this description of
household, is served either at half-past six or seven.
Where there is a house-maid kept as well as a par-
lour-maid, she assists the cook in dishing-up the
dinner, but where the house-maid acts as parlour-
maid a cook dishes-up without assistance. A plain
cook has the scullery-work to do after the dinner is
sent up, and to lay the supper-table for the servants’
85
The Duties of a Cook.
supper in the kitchen, and afterwards to clear it away.
If the cook were to put off washing the dishes, plates,
and cooking utensils until the following morning, it
would not only be untidy and unmethodical, hut it
would be throwing a burden of too much work upon
the next day. It is also her duty to see that the
doors and windows of the basement are fastened
securely, that the kitchen fire has burnt low, and
that the gas in the kitchen and passages is turned
off before retiring for the night, from ten to half-
past ten being the usual hour for so doing in
households of this description.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE DUTIES OF KITCHEN-MAIDS, SCULLERY-MAIDS
AND STILLROOM-MAIDS.
The duties of a kitchen-maid rather depend upon
whether she is head kitchen-maid, under kitchen-
maid, or sole kitchen-maid.
In large households two kitchen-maids and a
scullery-maid are usually kept, in which case the
head kitchen-maid is almost an under-cook : she does
all the plain cooking of the establishment, for the
schoolroom, nursery, servants’ hall, and housekeepers’
room, besides much of the elementary cooking for the
dining-room. She makes the sauces for the various
courses, and prepares the different dishes under the
directions of the cook. The second kitchen-maid
prepares the vegetables for the house, the game and
the poultry ; in some houses she does the dairy-work.
She makes the bread if the head kitchen-maid has
other work to do.
Where a stillroom-maid is not kept, the head
kitchen-maid makes the cakes for luncheon, tea, and
The Duties of Kitchen-maids, etc. 87
dessert, and makes the rolls for breakfast. The
second kitchen-maid keeps the kitchen clean, scours
the tables and keeps things in order where a servants’-
hall boy is not kept. The second kitchen-maid lays
the servants’ meals in the servants’ hall (see Chapter,
“ Servants’ Meals ”).
Where only one kitchen-maid is kept, she does less
cooking and more of the kitchen- work : she assists the
cook in preparing all the ingredients for her use ; she
makes the sauces ; she cooks the servants’ dinner ;
she bakes the bread ; she prepares the vegetables and
cooks them; she cleans the kitchen and lights the
kitchen fire.
The scullery-maid’s chief duty is to clean and scour
the stewpans, saucepans, saute-pans, frying-pans, and
all the utensils of the kitchen ; to clean the scullery,
servants’ hall, larders, and kitchen passages ; and where
only one kitchen-maid is kept, it is the scullery-maid’s
duty to lay the table in the servants’ hall for the
servants’ meals. The scullery-maid usually dines in the
kitchen with the kitchen-maid, and attends meanwhile
to the cooking that is going on for the family luncheon,
during the absence of the cook in the servants’ hall.
Kitchen-maids and scullery-maids are expected to rise
at six o’clock in summer, and half-past six o’clock in
winter.
In small households, where only two are kept in
the kitchen, viz., a cook and a scullery-maid, the
88
The Duties of Servants.
.scullery- maid performs many of the duties of a kitchen-
maid ; she cleans the kitchen, lights the kitchen fire,
prepares and cooks vegetables, assists the cook in the
plain cooking, in addition to the scullery work, which
is considerably lighter in small households than in
large ones.
A vegetable maid is oftener kept in a club than in
a private household, and her duty consists in preparing
the vegetables for cooking.
In those establishments where large parties of
visitors are constantly entertained, two stillroom-
maids are often kept, and the stillroom work is shared
between them.
Amongst the many duties of the stillroom-maid are
the following : to lay the housekeeper’s-room break-
fast-table, to bring in the breakfast, to clear away
and wash up the breakfast things. To prepare the
various trays for the eight o’clock bedroom teas. A
small tea-tray is covered with a serviette, a cup of
tea with a small milk -jug and sugar-basin, and plate
with slices of bread and butter, are placed upon it.
The tea is either made by the housekeeper or by the
stillroom-maid. She also makes the rolls for break-
fast, and gives out the china for the dining-room
breakfast, and subsequently washes and puts it away.
She waits in the housekeeper’s-room, lays the cloth
for dinner, and clears the dinner-table. She prepares
the dessert dishes in readiness for the dessert. She
The Duties of Kitchen-maids , etc. 89
gives out the china and cake for the drawing-room
five o’clock tea. She prepares the housekeeper’s-room
tea, clears away the tea-things, washes and puts
them away. She prepares the tray with the tea-cups
and coffee-cups for the after-dinner tea and coffee.
She lays the housekeeper’s-room supper-table, waits
at supper, and clears the supper-table. She is ex-
pected to rise at six o’clock to clean and sweep the
housekeeper’s-room and stillroom, to light the fires,
and to assist the housekeeper in all that appertains to
the housekeeper’s-room duties.
G
CHAPTER XIV.
housemaids’ duties.
The duties of a housemaid depend in a great
measure upon the scale of the household to which
she belongs, and according to the number of house-
maids kept — whether there are three housemaids or
one housemaid, whether the duties are divided
between three, or devolve upon one ; and when they
are divided between three — that is, between the upper
and under-housemaids — the duties of the upper-
housemaid are comparatively light as regards labour,
but heavy as regards responsibility ; the under-house-
maids being under her supervision. An upper-house-
maid’s duty is to take charge of the house-linen ; to
keep it in repair, and give it out as required ; to see
that each bedroom is supplied with clean chintzes,
curtains, sofa-covers, chair-covers, toilet- covers, &c. ;
to see that the drawers and wardrobes are dusted and
papered, and that fresh candles are set up each
evening, soap supplied, writing-tables attended to,
&c. Her duty is also to dust the china ornaments
in the drawing-rooms and other sitting-rooms, attend
Housemaids' Duties.
9i
to the arrangements of the rooms, and to attend to
the flowers and plants. The sitting-room, chintzes,
and chair-covers, are also under her charge, when a
house-keeper is not kept. She assists in making the
beds in the best bedrooms, and in dusting the rooms
and keeping everything in repair in each room.
After the dinner-bell has rung, she makes the
round of the best bedrooms and dressing-rooms, to
see that everything is in order, and that the under-
housemaids have severally performed their duties.
When two housemaids are kept, the work of the
household is divided between the two housemaids;
although the upper-housemaid has the charge of the
linen, and does the lighter work of the house.
When one housemaid is kept, she does not always
have the charge of the house-linen, as it is sometimes
given out by the mistress of the house, and some-
times by the lady’s-maid; but she is expected to
make out the list of linen when sent to a laundry,
if not washed at home, and to see that it is correctly
returned.
The arrangements of households where one house-
maid is kept, differ considerably with regard to the
work portioned to them.
The usual duties of a housemaid consist of the
following : to rise at six in summer, and half-past six
in winter ; before breakfast to sweep and dust the draw-
ing-room, dining-room, front hall, and other sitting-
92
The Duties of Servants.
rooms ; to clean the grates and light the fires ; and
where a lady’s-maid or valet is not kept, she carries up
the water for the baths for the family. After her own
breakfast she makes the servants’ beds, sweeps, dusts,
and arranges the rooms, sweeps the front staircase
and front hall. She makes the best beds, and sweeps
and dusts the rooms, cleans the grates, and lights the
fires ; when fires are kept up in the bedrooms during
the day, it is her duty to attend to them, and to light
them morning and evening, or when required ; she
prepares the bedrooms for the night, turns down the
beds, fills the jugs with water, closes the curtains,
takes up a can of hot water for the use of each person.
After the family have gone down to dinner, she
again makes the round of the bedrooms, and puts
them in order ; her last duty being to take up a can
of hot water to each bedroom and dressing-room.
It is her duty to see, during the day, that each
bedroom is supplied with soap, candles, clean towels,
writing-paper, and all that is required for use.
In households where the housemaid acts as parlour-
maid, the cook undertakes to sweep and dust the
dining-room ; to clean the grate and light the fire ;
to sweep and clean the front hall, and to clean the
front doorsteps ; and to assist in making the best beds.
Both sitting-rooms and bedrooms should be regu-
larly swept and dusted each day; and the china
fittings in bedrooms and dressing-rooms thoroughly
Housemaids Duties.
93
eleaned; ill- trained housemaids are apt to neglect
this daily round of sweeping and cleaning the rooms in
use, and to postpone it until the end of the week. This
method of performing the house- work is not followed
by good housemaids, or in well-regulated households.
An extra cleaning of each room once a month is
necessary, independent of the attention and care that
they require daily, when mirrors, pictures, windows,
walls, &c., are cleaned, for which sufficient time can-
not be allowed every morning.
A housemaid is expected to be dressed by four
or half-past four in the afternoon, and to sit down to
needlework.
When a housemaid acts as parlour-maid, she is
required to be dressed before luncheon or the midday-
dinner, and to wear a clean cap and apron when
bringing in the family breakfast.
When a housemaid acts as parlour-maid, she
answers the door in the afternoon, and lays the
table for dinner, &c. (See “Parlour-maid’s Duties.”)
Where two or three housemaids are kept, the upper
and second housemaid are expected to do the needle-
work of the house in the afternoon— from three to five.
In small families, where one housemaid is kept,
she undertakes to do the needlework for the house in
the afternoon ; and in many cases she is engaged to
act as maid to her mistress, as regards assisting her
in dressing.
CHAPTER XV.
THE DUTIES OF A PARLOUR-MAID.
A very large class of persons find it expedient to
keep a parlour-maid rather than a man-servant ;
in watering-places, suburban towns, and even in town
itself, persons with good incomes, but who live rather
quietly than not, prefer to be waited upon by a
parlour-maid, as many other services are rendered by
her besides the actual parlour-work. As regards
economy, the wages of a parlour-maid are not so
high as those of a man-servant, and there is a
further saving in the matter of finding clothes, in
addition to which the keep of a man-servant costs more
than that of a female servant ; and many prefer to be
waited upon by a parlour-maid than by an untidy
page. A parlour-maid lays the breakfast-table,
takes in breakfast, but is not expected to wait at
breakfast. She removes the breakfast-tilings, washes
the china and silver, she lays the luncheon-table,
carries in the luncheon, and waits at luncheon
(see work “Waiting at Table”). She clears the
luncheon-tablo, and washes the glasses and silver.
The Duties of a Parlour-maid. 95
She prepares the afternoon tea and carries it into
the drawing-room, and afterwards removes it. She
lays the table for dinner, and waits at dinner (see
work “Waiting at Table”).
She waits upon her mistress ; takes up her hot
water, her morning cup of tea ; assists her in dressing,
and acts in every respect as lady’s-maid with the
exception of making her dresses ; but she keeps the
wardrobe of her mistress in order, and alters and
repairs her dresses, &c., and does all necessary plain
sewing. She does all the housemaid’s work that
relates to the drawing-room, sweeping, cleaning, and
dusting the same. She cleans the silver, and has
the charge of it. She cleans and trims all
lamps that are used in the sitting-rooms. She gets
up the fine linen of the ladies of the family. She
does all pantry work, and keeps the pantry clean
and in order. She opens the door to callers, both
morning and afternoon. She is expected to be
dressed by 1 o’clock p.m., in time to wait at luncheon,
and to sit down to needlework not later than 2.30
p.m. She closes all shutters in hall, dining-room,
library, and drawing-rooms before dinner, and
lights the lamps or gas, or turns on the electric
lights, in all sitting-rooms and corridors and hall as
soon as it is dusk. In the morning she wears a
light cotton dress, apron, and cap ; and a black merino
dress, white bib apron and cap, collar and cuffs in
the afternoon.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE DUTIES OF A LADY’S-MAID.
There are various classes of ladies’ -maids, — fine
maids and humble maids, clever maids, and maids
without any pretentions to cleverness ; maids who are
their mistress’s “ right hand ” as it were, coadjutors
in all that concerns the interest of the household ; and
maids who are mere automatons, who perform the
duties required of them in a mechanical manner, and
who are more alive to their own interest than to that
of their mistress ; maids who act as housekeeper, and
maids who act as nurse, first-class maids and second
class maids, experienced maids and inexperienced
maids, smart maids and maids who are not smart ;
French maids and English maids.
A first-class maid is expected to he a thoroughly
experienced one : to he a first-rate hair-dresser and
dressmaker, experienced in dressing a lady, and a
good and expeditious packer, mistress of everything
that appertains to her office. This description of maid
is usually engaged by ladies who go out a “ great
The Duties of a Lady’s Maid. 97
deal,” and who spend a considerable amount of money
and time upon their dress.
These maids expect large perquisites in the matter
of their mistresses’ wardrobes, and therefore seldom
take a situation in what is termed a quiet family,
where the mistress goes out but little and has not the
reputation of being a good dresser.
This class of maid is often a Frenchwoman, and is
only in her element in a large establishment, and
households arranged on an economical footing do not
meet the views of this order of lady’s-maid ; when
engaged by the mistress of such, their stay is of the
briefest, and too often fraught with annoyances and
disagreeables to the household in general.
A Parisian maid out of her orbit is not a treasure :
in her orbit, as attendant to an extravagant, wealthy
and fashionable mistress, she suits the post, and what
is no less important, the post suits her ; hut in engag-
ing a Parisian maid, ladies find it necessary to he
additionally cautious in their enquiries as to character
and to take little or nothing upon trust, or they may
have occasion to regret such credulity.
Swiss maids, on the contrary, are valuable acquisi-
tions to a household on whatever scale it is regulated ;
they are not too grand in their ideas to suit the
smallest establishment, and are generally sufficiently
competent to undertake the duties of maid to the
mistress of a large establishment.
98
The Duties of Servants.
They are, as a rule, trustworthy and solid, and the
reverse of flighty in their conduct ; they attach them-
selves to their mistresses, and identify themselves with
their interest ; and although they may not possess the
sparkling vivacity and style of the Parisian maid,
they yet have sufficient taste and skill and light
handedness to fulfil all their duties in a thoroughly
satisfactory manner.
A useful class of maid is the one who acts as house-
keeper as well as maid ; she is a good dressmaker,
good hair-dresser, and what is known as a good maid.
She undertakes as much dressmaking as the maid who
does not act as housekeeper, and the fact of her
being a deputy housekeeper places her more en rapport
with her mistress than is the case with the generality
of maids.
Ladies who consider themselves their own house-
keepers place great reliance upon and trust in a maid
occupying this position in a household.
All those who have any pretensions to the title of
lady’s-maid are expected thoroughly to understand the
business of dressmaking, and not to possess merely a
superficial knowledge of it, and the same with regard
to hair-dressing and getting up fine linen.
The inexperienced, or humble maid, is but a novice
in these essential points, and she asks comparatively
low wages in consequence of this want of knowledge;
but if unskilful when left to herself, she is at least ex-
The Duties of a Lady's Maid.
99
pected to be a good workwoman, and to be able to
carry out her mistress’s instructions, and to work under
her directions.
Young ladies’ maids are generally of this order,
though to this rule there are exceptions, as to every
rule ; and some ladies find it more advantageous to
engage a first-class maid to wait upon their daughters,
capable of accomplishing all the dressmaking that is
required, in preference to engaging a young and inex-
perienced maid with but an elementary knowledge of
her duties ; but where part of a maid’s duty is to
walk out with a young lady, and to accompany her to
the houses of friends, to wait for her and return home
with her, she has little leisure for dressmaking, con-
sequently one with but little experience in her duties
answers the purpose of the situation.
Some ladies do not make a point of having much
dressmaking done at home by their maid, and prefer
having their dresses from a dressmaker, but to these
ladies economy is presumably not an object.
Other ladies take, perhaps, a medium course, and
have, on an average, two or three best dresses from a
first-class dressmaker, and have their less expensive
dresses made at home by their maid.
The duties of a maid may be said to consist of the
following : —
To bring up the hot-water for her mistress in the
morning and at various times of the day as required.
IOC
The Duties of Servants.
To bring her an early cup of tea.
To prepare ber things for dressing.
To assist ber in dressing.
To put ber room in order after dressing.
To put out ber things for walking, riding, and
driving, both in the morning and afternoon.
To assist ber in taking off ber out-door attire.
To put in readiness all that ber mistress may require
for dressing in the evening.
To assist her to dress for dinner.
To put everything in order in ber mistress’s room
before leaving it.
To sit up for ber, and to assist ber to undress on
ber return, and to carefully put away ber jewels and
everything connected with ber toilette.
To keep ber mistress’s wardrobe in thorough repair,
and to do all the dressmaking and millinery required
of her.
To wash the lace and fine linen of ber mistress.
These are the ostensible duties of a lady’s-maid, but
there are many minor matters that in small house-
holds come within ber province, such as dusting the
china ornaments in the drawing-room, attending to
the flowers in the drawing-room or in any of the
sitting-rooms in the bouse.
When ladies keep a pet dog or dogs, it is the duty
of a lady’s-maid to attend to them ; wash them, feed
them, and take them out walking.
The D titles of a Lady s Maid.
ioi
In small households where only one man-servant is
kept, when he is out with the carriage in the after-
noon, the lady’s-maid undertakes to answer the door
to visitors, and in still smaller households where the
housemaid undertakes the parlour work, the lady’s-
maid answers the door until the luncheon hour ; but
whenever these exceptional arrangements are made, it
is necessary to mention them at the time of engaging
a lady’s-maid, thus giving her the option of refusing
to undertake a situation where these extra duties are
required of her.
In some small households the nurse acts as lady’s-
maid to her mistress, in so far as rendering her assist-
ance in dressing and keeping her wardrobe in order.
With regard to the perquisites of ladies’-maids, the
apparel that a mistress has left off wearing is given to
the lady’s-maid and considered to he her perquisite,
hut some ladies make an exception to this rule with
regard to their more expensive dresses, while others
make an exception in favour of all their apparel, for
divers reasons ; one reason being an objection to seeing
their maids wearing dresses that they themselves have
recently worn, while other ladies prefer giving away
their discarded dresses to poor relations for the use of
their families. But when any arrangement of this
nature is made, it is entered into at the time of en-
gaging a lady’s-maid, and higher wages are given
in consequence.
102
The Duties of Servants.
On the death of a mistress, the lady’s-maid in her
service usually claims the wardrobe, with the excep-
tion of lace, fur, velvet, and satin, unless an arrange-
ment has been made of the nature above alluded to.
The leisure accorded to ladies’-maids consists prin-
cipally of the evening hours, from eight o’clock until
bedtime ; but mistresses are, as a rule, very indulgent
in allowing their maids to walk out in the afternoon
if they desire to do so, and to attend church twice on
Sunday, whole holidays being, as a rule, more or
less inconvenient to grant.
A sewing-maid does needlework and dress-making
only, and does not wait upon the ladies of the family
unless specially engaged to do so.
CHAPTEE XVII.
THE DUTIES OF A HEAD-NURSE AND THE DUTIES
OF A NURSERY-MAID.
The duties of a nurse, although comparatively
light, are yet weighted with heavy responsibility, the
office of nurse being one in which great trust is
reposed, and much confidence placed. To secure a
nurse in whom all requisite qualities for the situation
are united, is a matter of no little difficulty ; good
qualities are too often negatived by serious defects of
character, and although the moral points in the cha-
racter of a nurse may be excellent, and the knowledge
of the duties of her position complete, yet these
advantages are more frequently counterbalanced by
some serious fault, such as undue impulsiveness in
the management of children ; impulsiveness which
springs probably from an undisciplined mind, which
is the attribute of the class to which they belong,
rather than the exception. A hasty temper, over
which but little or no restraint has been exercised ;
from which springs the ill-judged punishing, and ill-
104
The Dtities of Servants.
timed spoiling which, are distinguishing characteristics
of many head-nurses of the day. A love of gossiping
with their fellow-servants in the presence of the chil-
dren themselves ; their vulgarisms of speech, and the
topics discussed by them totally unfitted for the ears of
children ; are but a few of the numerous failings of those
who might otherwise he justly considered good nurses.
The diction of a nurse is also of serious importance to
the children under her care ; if she is an uneducated
woman, she mispronounces and miscalls almost every
word she utters, and the children, with all the quick-
ness of childhood, contract habits of speech which are
subsequently difficult to overcome. Others, again,
display a great disregard for the letter H, or perhaps
a misplaced affection for it; and although it may
amuse the members of the family when she talks of
Master ’Enery’s beautiful blue heyes, it is not perhaps
quite so amusing when Master Henry himself informs
his mamma’s visitor that he has “ ’urt his ’ead” and
“ pinched his ’and.” In contrast to this Cockney
dialect so often met with in nurses, is the broad dialect
of the labouring classes, from which classes nurses are
most frequently taken ; they enter families as nursery-
maids, and their uneducated dialect is not supposed to
signify, but in the course of years, when they are
promoted to the post of head-nurses, it signifies
materially. Mothers are too often induced to over-
look this serious defect on the part of a nurse, on
The Duties of a Head Nurse. 105
account of her other many excellent qualities,
believing, moreover, that a governess, when the
children are old enough to require one, will very
easily eradicate any uncouthness of speech contracted
by them in the nursery. How fallacious is this im-
pression, those who have in childhood been under the
care of an uneducated nurse bear unpleasing testi-
mony. Children are prone to copy and to take
impressions from those with whom their infantine
days are spent ; and as it is their nurse with whom
these days are passed, they derive all their impres-
sions from her, if they are not living photographs of
her ; her violence of temper is reproduced in them
with startling fidelity, any act of duplicity or under-
hand manoeuvring is noted, remembered, and acted
upon, on the first occasion, and untruthfulness in chil-
dren, if traced to its origin, would often be found to
have originated in an untruthful nurse. It is so with
all the moral qualities, every bad quality in the nurse
is reproduced in children with painful accuracy. The
nursery is oftener than not the children’s world ; their
mother is to them the beautiful lady whom they see ten
minutes during the day, and whose visits to the nursery
are of the briefest ; when this is so, the influence of
the nurse is supreme over the minds of her charges ;
and even when mothers pass much of their time with
their children, having them frequently with them,
and endeavouring to counteract the nurse’s influence,
io6
The Duties of Servants.
yet from the position the nurse holds towards them,
and from the nature of her duties, it naturally follows
that her example and authority are paramount with
them. Thus the character and the daily life of the
nurse are instinct with teaching, in comparison with
which the precepts and instruction of parents weigh
but slightly in the balance.
The manner and hearing of nurses towards children
has also its effect upon them ; children become
brusque, abrupt in their speech, in proportion as
the nurse is or is not so in these things. Vulgarisms
of speech taught by a nurse can, by constant care, be
counteracted and corrected by a governess or mother ;
hut a broad country dialect, once acquired, clings to
a child, and gives a very disagreeable twang to the
voice, which no after-instruction can remedy.
Mothers awake to the responsibility attached to the
choice of a nurse, bear these drawbacks and disad-
vantages well in mind, when selecting one for their
children ; while less experienced mothers make every
allowance for shortcomings in the matter of speech
and want of education in one recommended for her
general trustworthiness — imagining that, as the chil-
dren are so young, constant contact with an uneducated
person leaves no lasting impression or ill effects upon
their characters.
More enlightened mothers, anxious for the early
training of their children, unable to meet with a
The Duties of a Head Nurse. 107
nurse who comes up in any degree to their standard
of excellence, have recourse to the expedient of engag-
ing young-lady nurses or widow ladies, to act in this
capacity, and find the immense advantage of fol-
lowing this plan with respect to the training of their
children.
When young-lady nurses are selected, they are
taken from large families of daughters, well brought-
up girls, accustomed to assist their mothers in the
management of their brothers and sisters, and thus
experienced in the ways of childhood.
The position these young-lady nurses hold in the
household is that of nursery-governesses ; they have
breakfast and tea in the nursery, they dine down at
the family luncheon, and supper is sent to them in
the nursery.
They perform all the duties of a nurse, talcing
charge of an infant from a month old ; the maternal
instinct which is inherent in every woman is not by
any means the prerogative of uneducated classes,
quite the contrary ; and all hygienic and sanitary
principles which can he introduced and carried out in
the nursery are far better understood and put into
practice by intelligent and educated women, than by
obstinate uneducated ones, in whom prejudice too
often usurps the place of common sense.
Children placed in the charge of a well-brought-up,
well-mannered, high-principled young woman, are not
io8
The Duties of Servants.
exposed to the coarse and rough jests which are too
often indulged in by nurses and nursery-maids with
the opposite sex in the presence of the children, and
which have the most pernicious effect upon their
young minds, rendering them over precocious, and
versed in vulgar street-chaff ; whereas, in the care of
a lady-nurse, they are kept from such deteriorating
influences.
The duties of a nurse are the same, whether they
are performed hy an uneducated or educated person ;
the rough work of the nursery is done hy the nursery-
maid.
When the nurse has the charge of more than one
child, the nursery-maid assists her in washing and
dressing the elder children ; when there is only one
child in her care, she has no assistance from a
nursery-maid or housemaid, as in such a case the
under-housemaid waits upon the nursery, a nursery-
maid not being considered necessary.
A nurse is not supposed to rise later than seven, at
half-past seven the infant or child has its hath, and is
then dressed ; eight o’clock is the breakfast hour,
which is prepared by the nursery or housemaid.
At half-past nine in summer, and eleven in winter,
the children are taken out ; if there are two children
or more, the nursery-maid accompanies the nurse in
the walk.
At twelve o’clock the young children are made to
The Duties of a Head Nurse. 109
lie down, for at least an horn’ ; one o’clock is the
nursery dinner-hour, but in the case of a lady-nurse,
she dines with the family at their luncheon.
At half-past two the children are again taken out,
weather permitting, for an hour or an hour and a half ;
at half-past four the nurse is probably desired to bring
the children to the drawing-room, and there to leave
them with their mother, for from twenty minutes to
half an hour.
Sometimes the children are brought down after
instead of before tea, five o’clock being the hour for
nursery-tea ; but as half-past five is near to the hour
of young children’s bed-time, they are rather inclined
to be cross and sleepy if taken to the drawing-room
after they have had their tea.
Six o’clock is the usual hour for children to retire
to rest. The evening bath is prepared by the nursery-
maid, as is the morning bath.
Supper is brought to the nurse in the nursery at
half-past eight or nine o’clock. In some households
she has dinner and supper with the other servants,
while in others she has all her meals in the nursery,
which are brought to her by the nursery-maid or
under-housemaid. Mistresses find that the latter is
the better plan to follow.
A nurse is expected to cut out and make the
children’s ordinary under- clothing ; some nurses are
not capable of doing even this with any degree of
I TO
The Duties of Servants.
satisfaction to their mistresses, and are only equal to
keeping the children’s garments in repair, and making
the plainest under-clothing.
Children’s dresses, pinafores, and petticoats, are
now made in so elaborate a style, that a nurse had
need to be a clever dressmaker to attempt to make
frocks for the children, and this accomplishment is not
expected of them.
After supper a nurse’s time is her own as regards
needlework, although she is required to remain in the
day-nursery within call if wanted. A nurse is allowed
to attend church once every Sunday, and to go out
one evening in each week, and in every month or six
weeks she is allowed one whole day or half day, ac-
cording to the arrangement made between herself and
mistress at the time of engaging her. Although going
out without leave is not permitted in well-regulated
households, yet should the nurse venture upon doing
so, it is looked upon as a graver offence on her part
than on that of any other servant by reason of the
responsibility of the position she holds.
On the other hand, mistresses are more considerate
and more indulgent to their nurses than to any other
servant in their establishments, in many instances
humouring them and spoiling them, with the idea of
attaching them to the children under their charge.
The result of this system is that the nurse presumes
upon the weakness of her mistress and becomes tyran-
The Duties of a Head Nurse.
1 1 1
nical and overbearing, and impatient of control and
interference ; and the mistress, finding that her well-
meant suggestions for her children’s comfort are re-
ceived ungraciously, or when carried out are made to
appear blunders or errors of judgment on her part,
succumbs at length to the tyranny of her excellent
nurse.
There are, of course, nurses to be met with who
are neither tyrannical nor overhearing, and who are
conscientious and trustworthy in every respect, attached
to their mistresses and to the children ; but these
good creatures belong as a rule to the class of nurse
already referred to — the warm-hearted, impulsive,
undisciplined, uneducated ones.
Occasionally a mistress of a family is fortunate
enough to meet with a nurse who is exempt from the
drawbacks enumerated, and who is all that a nurse
should be ; but these exceptional women are difficult
to meet with, and the majority of nurses belong to the
order before described rather than to this superior and
exceptional type of nurse.
The Nursery -maid' s Duties. — The nursery-maid’s
duties are of a very practical and subordinate charac-
ter. She has but to execute the orders of the nurse,
and to do all that is required of her in a thorough
manner. She is expected to rise at six o’clock, to
sweep and dust the day nursery, clean the grate, and
light the fire ; to light the fire in the night nursery
1 12
The Duties of Servants.
when one is required ; to bring up the water for the
children’s baths ; to assist the nurse in washing and
dressing the children ; to lay the nursery breakfast-
table ; and afterwards to clear away and wash up the
breakfast things ; to make the beds and empty the
baths ; to sweep and clean the night nursery ; to ac-
company the children out walking in the morning, or
to he ready to sit down to needlework for the children
if she remains at home ; to assist in undressing the
children, and to put their walking things away ; to set
the nursery dinner-table, and to bring up and clear
away the nursery dinner, including that of the nurse
and her own ; to go out with the children in the after-
noon, if required, or to do needlework if not required
to go out ; to play with and amuse the children before
tea ; to prepare the nursery tea for the children, nurse,
and herself, and to wash up and put away the tea-
things ; to prepare the children’s evening baths and to
assist in undressing, washing, and putting them to
bed ; to assist the nurse in preparing the children’s
things for wear the next morning ; to bring up the
supper for the nurse and herself, after which meal her
time is at her own disposal for the remainder of the
evening.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE DUTIES OF DAIRY-MAIDS AND LAUNDRY-MAIDS.
A dairy-maid is sometimes an outdoor servant,
and sometimes an indoor servant; it depends in a
great measure whether the dairy is a large or small
one ; if a large one, the dairy-maid usually lives at
the home-farm, and churns the butter, and looks after
the poultry — milking the cows being done by the
stock-man.
The combined duties of attending to the poultry
and to the work of the dairy are sometimes performed
by two dairy-maids, and sometimes by one, according
to the amount of poultry or number of cows kept.
Rearing chickens, ducks, turkeys, &c., is a business
in itself ; and oftener than not, the stock-man assists
the dairy-maid in churning, when there is a consider-
able amount of butter to he made.
When the dairy-maid is an indoor servant, she is
kitchen-maid as well as dairy-maid, and the dairy
work is comparatively light ; extra wages are given
when these combined duties are undertaken by her.
A laundry-maid is also a semi-outdoor servant,
1 14 The Duties of Servants.
although she has her meals in the servant’s hall, and
lives in the house ; but the laundry is usually a
detached building.
Where two or three laundry-maids are kept, the
upper laundry-maid attends to getting up the fine
linen for the family, and the under laundry-maids to
the house linen and servants’ linen ; hut in small
country establishments, where only one laundry-maid
is kept, the under servants are expected to give a
couple of hours of their time during the week, to assist
in ironing their own cotton dresses. In other small
establishments where resident laundry-maids are not
kept, laundry-maids from the neighbouring village are
hired by the week ; but are boarded in the house with
the other servants.
In towns the washing of the family in a household
is put out, and is either paid for by the piece, dozen,
or by oontract.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE DUTIES OF GARDENERS AND GAMEKEEPERS.
A head gardener in a large establishment is an
individual of no little importance, and is usually a
man possessing a considerable amount of practical
knowledge and a fair education ; there is generally a
great deal of glass under his charge, hot-houses,
green-houses, conservatories, &c. Some gardeners
direct much of their attention and skill to forcing
fruit, flowers, and vegetables, and are allowed by their
masters to exhibit specimens of their skill in this
direction; but as this forcing system, when carried
out to any extent, is attended with no little expense,
both as regards money and time, some masters object
to its being indulged in ; and again, many people think
that moderate forcing, for their own table, of such
vegetables as potatoes, French beans, peas, asparagus,
in addition to cucumbers and mushrooms, &c., are all
that is required, and dispense with such luxuries as
strawberries, pines, and melons until they are fairly in
season and not wholly out of season.
The number of gardeners kept, in addition to the
1 1 6 The Duties of Servants.
head gardener, is regulated by the size of the gardens
and the extent of the operations carried on ; but it is
the head gardener’s duty to apportion the work to
each man employed in the gardens and to see that it
is properly performed ; he is rather an autocrat in his
way, and is usually studied and conciliated by the
feminine branches of the family. He objects, on
principle, to his choicest blossoms being cut by his
mistress or her daughters, or the finest bunches of
grapes being gathered ; when his green-houses and
hot-houses are to be rifled, he prefers that it should be
done by himself rather than by his mistress, and
ladies who value their gardeners are inclined to
humour this weakness.
The scale of gardeners varies as much as the
extent of the gardens themselves, from the gardens of
a castle to those of a cottage or villa ; from the head
gardener, with twenty-five gardeners under him, to
the one gardener, who is assisted in his labours by a
boy, or is even unassisted by a boy, and who adds to
his duty of gardener that of a groom, taking charge
of pony and pony-carriage.
The duties of a gamekeeper hardly come within
the province of the present work.
The wages a gamekeeper receives are mentioned
in the tariff of servant’s wages. The head game-
keeper occupies a cottage on the estate, and the second
keeper is provided with a cottage also ; the head
Duties of Gardeners and Gamekeepers. 1 1 7
keeper attends to preserving game, rearing pheasants,
and so on, and has the management of the manor,
subject to his master’s approval, and of the battues, or
shooting parties ; the under-keepers receive their in-
structions from him.
CHAPTER XX.
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
The treatment of servants by masters and mis-
tresses greatly influences the services rendered ; con-
siderate masters and mistresses usually obtain good
service from their domestics, and consideration is best
shown by as far as possible not interrupting them in
the performance of their duties, thus allowing of their
being carried out with method and regularity.
Again, inexperienced mistresses make the mistake
of being over confidential with their servants at one
hour, and expecting them to be over deferential
the next. They are confidential respecting their
own affairs, which provokes a corresponding degree
of confidence on the part of their servants ;
good mistresses take an interest in the welfare
and well-being of their servants, and thus gain
an influence over them for good ; but this is a
very different thing te encouraging them in idle
gossip, as a servant once permitted to become a
narrator too often draws the long bow, and fact is lost
Concluding Remarks. 119
in fiction. On the other hand, some masters and
mistresses adopt an arbitrary and haughty demeanour
towards their servants, to the exclusion of anything
like a mutual interest, such as it is well should exist
between masters and servants.
Servants should neither be treated in a too con-
ciliatory manner nor in a too peremptory one, and a
manner and bearing bordering on neither of these
extremes is calculated to inspire the greatest amount
of respect and obedience. A hesitating manner when
giving an order of however trivial a nature, or an
appeal to the judgment of a servant as to whether an
order given is the best to give under the circum-
stances, renders it liable to be disregarded and set on
one side altogether, or carelessly and indifferently
executed — as servants as a rule are quick to take
advantage of any weakness of character or purpose
exhibited by their masters and mistresses.
THE END.
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.
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WAITING AT TABLE
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